


Trust

by VulgarPupil



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7, Not My Fault, cycle 27 in the stolen centry, he wouldnt have left open ninety fucking cycles, if griffin mcelroy didnt want me to make my own cycle fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-04-23 21:43:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14341509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VulgarPupil/pseuds/VulgarPupil
Summary: The I.P.R.E. is on their twenty-seventh year of their mission. New plane, new planet, new circumstances, new complications, new skepticism, and new dread. Without the use of their magic, different dangers creep into view.





	1. Don't let me fall

The vast emptiness of space is, in most cases, just that—vast and empty. Stars litter the extensively unoccupied night sky, but even the stars are light years apart from one another in the darkness of the universe. This great loneliness accomplished by the incomprehensible enormity that is space, is overcome by a single, silver ship, moved with meticulous expertise through the sky. This silver speck, the Starblaster, was crafted to escort its seven inhabitants to travel through the planes and to, in time, return home. Understandably, after years of not making it back, hope wears thin.

 

These seven sat together aboard the Starblaster. Captain Davenport was stationed at the helm of the ship with his eyes locked on the planet in front of them, waiting on their arrival. He always had a look of determination on his face, as if he could make each visit to the new plane their last endeavor, but not without curiosity of what was to come. Barry sat with him with his arms crossed and his fist over his mouth. He managed to get himself killed in the last two cycles, and planned on surviving this one. Lucretia was busying herself with her work to keep it organized, making sure she had new empty journals ready for her eager hands to document anything and everything that happened. Magnus was playing red-hands with Merle… Magnus was beating Merle at red-hands. The twins, Taako and Lup, were sitting together with their arms locked, quietly for once. They both had their eyes locked outside through the thick glass to watch as the planet slowly crept closer to their ship. In their last cycle, they were separated for the greater part of the year there. Taako stayed on the surface, while Lup had spent time with Barry and Magnus to complete their yearly mission of obtaining the Light of Creation before the dark, planet-eating mass they deemed “The Hunger” could. This year, their twenty-seventh year on their journey, everyone wanted smooth sailing. 

Davenport was the first to speak up after too many moments of silence, his gaze briefly fixating on Barry. “Have any predictions for the new planet?” 

“Hm?”

“The new plane, Barry?”

“Oh-“ He rubbed his eyes and sat up straight in his chair, looking forward. “I’m not sure; hopefully somewhere with fresh air and civilization.” 

Davenport let out a small sigh with a nod, “It would be a nice change of pace.” He let his fingers tap on the arm of his chair for a moment before turning back to Barry. He moved to speak, but Barry spoke first.

“I’d like to not—I’d like to have a full year. I think I want to jump right into finding the light, you know?” He casted a side glance at Davenport. “I don’t want it to sound like I’m copping out or anything, I’ve just— I feel like I’ve been losing too much time I could be spending w—…” He cut himself off with a sigh and looked over his shoulder briefly toward the rest of the crew. “I don’t know what I’m saying.”

Davenport shook his head, “No, I agree.” He waved his hand to prevent Barry from speaking up. “You’re our head scientist, we should find the light together this cycle. Tentative plan, of course, we don’t know what we’re headed for yet.”

They nodded together in silence with an unseen but mutual annoyance from the loud slap erupting from the corner outside the helm that Merle and Magnus were perched, synced with a shout and dejected groan from Merle. “Maybe the new planet’ll have something for knucklebrain here to hit that isn’t me.” He groaned through gritted teeth, words soaked with irritation as he massaged his sore hands.

“You pull them away Merle—You—“ Magnus interrupted his own speaking to demonstrate sticking his hands out, and quickly pulling them to his sides. He did this at least three times, each movement more intense than the last with his eyes locked on Merle’s. “Don’t get slapped is the game, you’re not doing it right!”

“Well, you didn’t show me like _that_!”

“It’s the whole fucking game!”

Lup cast a glance toward Taako, who rolled his eyes in agreement. She turned to the bickering two with an impatient huff, her eyes glaring at the two with a perked brow. “Can you two like, get a room? Or at least stop hitting him, Magnus, you know he’s frail.” 

“Yeah!... Wait, hey!”

Their bickering soon filled the ship. Merle turned his frustration back to Magnus, both trying to accuse Magnus of taking advantage of his age while simultaneously holding hard to being as spry as the rest of them. For a moment, a brief moment, they were just friends. It didn’t matter that they were in the endless void of space, it didn’t matter that they were alone on their journey, it didn’t matter that they risked their lives every day because who knew if the day will come where they don’t all make it back. Moments where the weight of their situation was light weren’t few, but it was rare when Taako got to watch from outside as it lifted from the shoulders of his coworkers. Lup unhooked her arm from his and stood up to enter the conversation, and the laughs of the three echoed through the ship. Lucretia even lifted her head to make a sly comment about Merle being, as she put it, the ‘elder’ of the group. Her comment led to hooting and hollering, along with the sound of laughter coming from the helm. However, for Taako, watching made the severity sit heavily. It wasn’t as if he was unaware that this was still a mission, and the curse on them has been lingering for the past twenty-seven years now, but to see everyone using the hours before they reached their next destination to be a family gave him a deep feeling of longing for what could’ve been if they had just been together under better circumstances. Before Taako could make his own attempt to shake himself from the unprovoked decline, Davenport’s voice cracked through the intertwined sounds of their voices.

“We-We’re close enough to get a good look of the planet.”

Taako was the first to jump to his feet to shake out his legs and skip toward the front of the ship, his hands each resting on Davenport and Barry’s shoulders. “What’s shakin’, boys?”  Both of them threw a gaze at Taako but shook their heads. The rest of the crew piled in after him and spread around the room, all eager to see what their new home for the rest of the year. By comparison to most other planets, it was remarkably green. It had large bodies of blue water to combat the vibrant life so obviously thriving. Over the east it appeared to be in the middle of a lightning shower, shown by the spiraled clouds and the sparks of light showing through them. The sight of this planet brought a smile from everyone’s face—it looked so much like home.

“It’s almost… Perfect.” Davenport said quietly to himself before pointing an outstretched finger toward the single moon orbiting the planet. 

“Think it’s inhabited?” Magnus asked, leaning on Davenport’s chair.

“Well,” He rubbed his chin, squinting at the planet. “There isn’t a way to tell, still. I hope so.”

The seven stayed together in the helm for a minute longer to observe the planet until they were interrupted by Lup clapping her hand on Barry’s shoulder. “Okay, nerds, that’s enough gaping at a fucking space rock for Lup. We’ve been looking at it for two days, we’re gonna be living on it for a year; I’m boooooooored.” She let out an elongated groan before weaving her hands together. ”Who wants lunch? I’m feeling… Curry? Any objections?” Before anyone had the chance to speak, she nodded and assured the group that if anyone attempted to help her beside Taako, they would be an ingredient in the dish. She rubbed Taako’s back as she walked out of the helm, followed by Lucretia who seemed to in that moment remember that she wanted to log everything and let out a small excited gasp to run to her books and begin writing. Taako looked between the Captain and Head Science Officer before choosing the latter to quickly slap the cheek of before heading out after his sister, prompting a confused double take from Barry as he rubbed his cheek.

Lucretia sat herself back down at her small desk by the helm with her journals spread in front of her. Although her crew was excited, she couldn’t shake the feeling of skepticism she had before every new world they engage in. Sure, Davenport, Barry, and the twins keep up a barrier when they first arrive to ensure safety, but Merle doesn’t seem to completely understand the severity of the situation, and Magnus can’t seem to stop himself from literally rushing into any danger he can find under the guise of ‘keeping the group safe’. She let out a sigh and began writing about the planet, underscoring the title:

CYCLE 27

 

At the other end of the ship, Taako and Lup were moving towards the kitchen. Before they made it to their stations, Lup outstretched an arm and gave Taako a full body scan.

“You okay, stupid?” Lup asked, putting her arm around his.

He smiled at her and hooked his arm as well, using his free hand to pat her arm as he replied, keeping his voice low. “Yeah yeah, yeah. Well— Here’s the— okay. I’m like, fine? Just had a weird thing.”

Lup nodded and pursed her lips, “Totaly, totally. I kinda had one too.”

Taako pulled back just slightly to look at her. “Oh, real shit?”

“Yeah, for sure. Kinda felt off for a sec, I get it. I wanted to know if it was just me.”

“Hm, hm... Twin shit.”

“Twin shit.” Lup agreed. “Although, it kinda looked like—“

At that moment, the ship lost balance just briefly, but long enough to throw Taako and Lup forward onto the floor, face first. “What the fuck?” They exclaimed in unison, helping each other to their knees. Lup cupped a hand over her nose where a stream of blood began dripping past her lip. “What the fuck is wrong with Davenp-” Taako was cut off by an indescribably excruciating pain ripping through his body. It felt as if someone had reached a hand into his chest and ripped something out. He knew immediately that he wasn’t the only one who felt it, as his agonizing scream was paired by his sister’s. In a last attempt of hope, they reached for each other as they fell back to the ground, their hands white-knuckled as they grabbed each other’s jackets, trying to pull each other closer before, well, they couldn’t.

 

Back at the helm, when the ship jerked sidewards, Magnus managed to catch himself with quick reflexes by grabbing onto the pillar beside him, and caught Merle who let out a horrible cry before he could fall as well. Lucretia was working on her journals when she let out a sharp cry and her chair slipped out from under her, the journals bouncing off her desk with her.

“What the fuck?” Magnus turned pale with Merle in hand and looked back at Barry and Davenport.  Barry was hanging off his chair with a hand over his chest before he collapsed, and Davenport was slumped against the wheel, slowly slipping off onto the floor. He fell with a hard thud against the ground, and the ship repositioned itself with Davenport off the wheel. Magnus’ eyes grew wide and he began to rush toward his Captain, but was held back by Merle who was limply hanging in his hand. “Merle!” His eyes scanned the room. Lucretia was motionless in a slump by her work, Barry was face down on the ground, Davenport was looking smaller than ever curled on the floor. Magnus’ mind and heart began to race. He set Merle carefully on the floor besides Lucretia, who had let her pain go, and lie motionless as well. “No—No no.. No—We didn’t—how..” He rushed to the helm and picked up Davenport and Barry with trembling hands to bring them to the others and lay them down carefully. He stood upright and well while four of his crewmates were— “No! NO!” His voice ripped raw through the air like a dagger, but no one other than himself could hear. No, they couldn’t be… He tripped to his knees to  set his head on Barry’s chest to listen for a breath, a pulse, an anything. He waited in trembling silence before letting out a hard and ragged sigh to hear him breathing and his heart beating. He quickly checked the others and found the same. Their respiratory systems were working, but that didn’t stop them from looking ill. 

“Fuck!” Magnus exclaimed, jumping to his feet and running into the helm. He set the ship to guide itself slowly before slipping back out and breaking into a run into the ship. Where were the twins?

“LUP! TAAKO! GUYS! Fuck, c’mon! MARCO!”

He nearly slid past the kitchen when the sight of the two on the floor caught his eye. He ran back in and the feeling of dread in his chest reignited immediately. The mess of blonde hair scattered across the tile and a small pool of blood coming from under Lup’s head made him nauseous. Their bodies were piled beside each other with arms outstretched to make feeble attempts to hold onto each other. Magnus slid on his knees toward Taako and lifted his limp body to pull his chest to his ear, once again feeling a rush of relief to hear his heart beating. He turned to Lup and put a finger on her neck: Once again, steady pulse. Magnus ran his fingers through his hair and sat on his knees beside the unconscious twins. How the fuck could this have happened? Why is he still on his feet while all his friends are out cold? He couldn’t sit there and through himself a pity party, so he grabbed the twins carefully and brought them to the others. Now he could party.

“What the FUCK!” His voice ripped through again. He could go dizzy from the amount of times he paced in circles trying hard just to figure out why this could’ve happened. There were his six only people in the universe he knew at this point, lying on the floor unconscious because... Why wouldn’t that happen. After pulling what magnus considered all of his hair out of his head, he decided the best line of action would be to set everyone in the med bay instead of having them all lay on the ground in the middle of the Starblaster.

Carrying his friends’ comatose bodies across their ship to tuck them each individually into a bed into their medbay was not as easy as he thought it would be. Not because he wasn’t strong, of course, he could’ve brought forty more injured people in without breaking a sweat. It was hard because he was alone. Not twenty minutes before they had dropped were they all laughing and arguing together, and now he doesn’t even know if he’ll have them around for the rest of the year. Magnus was alone, and he’d never been alone like this before. 

He had heard Barry and Lup talking about how alone they were in the universe together before, all of them, but it wasn’t until the moment he was carrying Davenport, the last crewmate, into the medbay that he truly let that realization sink in. It wasn’t that he didn’t know, he just never had the chance to fully experienced it.

“I don’t even know what’s wrong with you all…” Magnus muttered to himself while he rubbed his eyes. They all look sick, he thought to himself. But he heard Merle scream. A shudder went down Magnus’ spine just reimagining it. It was bone chilling to hear someone like Merle let out something so agonizing as he did. 

“The best I could do for any of you is clean up Lup.” He sighed, leaning against the wall with a groan and his hands pressed against his face. ”Leave it to me to be the one bastard without magic t-t-... To-...” Magnus’ words choked out of his throat after he realized what he had said. The only one without magic. His eyes widened in horror as he looked around the medbay, as if to ensure himself that all six were, in fact, practitioners of magic of some sort.

What the fuck happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! i'm ezra and im going to try and update? once a week? but i know how rare anyone has ever done that in their whole life and school is ending soon so finals and graduation shit is also on its way so i might not be able to but i really like writing this so hopefully i'll at least be somewhat on track with updating. enjoy as there is more coming :0


	2. Blast from the past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry about the formatting i dont know how to use ao3 . enjoy

Ever so slowly, am unknown planet continued to come closer through the darkness of space. It was close enough now to see mountain ranges, and breaks in the forests that seemed nonexistent from further away. However beautiful this sight was, no one was paying it any attention. Safely through the glass of the Starblaster, the helm of the ship was uncharacteristically silent. Two seats were twisted awkwardly and a glass of water was shattered on the floor in a puddle of water and half melted ice. Had only someone been sitting in one of those chairs, remarking on the beauty of the incoming planet, would they have seen a shimmering and bright stream of light come into view and land on the west of the horizon.

 

In the med bay, things continued to lay silently still. Everyone had been adjusted comfortably into their beds by a pair of caring hands, with the exception of Taako, who had been tucked in tightly under the covers. In line, the beds held Davenport, Lucretia, Barry, Lup, and Taako, but the seventh bed was untouched, as Magnus was standing over the unconscious six. He felt like he had been watching them for days, but it had only been a matter of hours since they all dropped. He rubbed his eyes hard with a groan. How could this have happened? Should he turn the ship around, see if it was the planet’s interference? What if going closer was hurting them more? 

A squeaking bed quickly brought his gaze back to his friends, eyes scanning each of them. None had woken up, but what he did see was Lup readjusting in her position. Magnus felt his heart leap out of his chest and he rushed to her bedside, shaking her gently. “Lup? C’mon girl, wake up…” 

No response. She stayed still and her breathing slowed back to a steady, relaxed pace. However, her eyes twitched under her eyelids quickly. 

“Lup… What’re you dreaming about?”

 

Bright light slowly crept over Lup’s face, breaking through her brown curls onto her eyes. An unfamiliar voice whispered her name, and her eyes shot open. The world was blinding while her eye’s struggled to adjust to the bright sun. She scrambled to her knees, trying to piece together where she was. She felt cold despite a thick blanket over her, a cool draft whistling through the air. She used one hand to rub her eyes, and the other to feel the texture of the wool quilt wrapped around her. There was no way this was the Starblaster. Where was she? Everything felt disoriented and wrong. She held the quilt tightly with her small fists, it was soft and familiar. Once her eyes adjusted, she recognized the room immediately. A small cabin on a mostly abandoned campsite with a broken window letting in soft snowflakes and a bed adjacent to hers. Her bag sat on a table, set over a knife which’s handle was barely visible. Under a similar quilt thrown lazily onto the other bed lay another small figure with brown curly hair, sleeping soundly. Lup spent a moment taking in the environment before she remembered. Of course, she was with Taako. Where else would she be? They’d been staying with the performers from north of town. Lup rubbed her eyes harder with a small yawn and a shiver and crawled out of her bed, careful not to make any noise while she meticulously tiptoed across the squeaky wooden floor toward Taako’s bed. “Taako?” Lup whispered, giving the bed a small shake. The shape under the cover twitched with a snore, but nothing more. She sighed and climbed into the bed to sit next to him. “Taako? Wake up dingus.” She whispered again, shaking him lightly. This woke him up. He shook with a small gasp, moments later shooting up with wide eyes into Lup’s arms, who had quickly wrapped them around her brother.

“Shh, it’s me.” She rubbed his back as she hugged him. It took him a few seconds of panic before Taako calmed down and returned the gesture.    
“Thanks…” He held her at a distance and brushed a curl off of her face. He took a moment to continue waking up and pulled his hair out of his face into a ponytail with a strip of leather he untied from his wrist. “We bolting today?”

Lup nodded her head and lowered herself off the bed. “It’s been over a week.” She mumbled with a sigh. She picked up the bag from the table beside her bed and put the knife inside it. She turned to watch Taako do the same, removing the large quilt from his bed and shoving it into the rucksack. He pulled the small bag to his shoulder, and his arm vanished inside. Each of their bags of holding had intricate designs on them, Lup’s had warm colored patterns, and Taako’s had cool. He moved to Lup’s bed and pulled her quilt into his bag as well. They exchanged nods after packing everything in their room and quietly opened the door and silently slipped out of their room. After that, they broke out and began packing everything they could find. Taako went for their storage unit and swiped loose gold, extra clothes, and any jewelry they used in performance. Lup went right for their food supply and took everything. There wasn’t much, mostly dried and pickled type food, which neither of them were too fond of, but it was better than nothing. Besides, they knew enough from their aunt to turn a bad situation into an at least edible one. Taako had his eyes locked on the ringmaster’s pocket watch for the past three days and refused to leave without it. 

“As much as I’m digging the dedication, I don’t think it’s the best idea.” Lup insisted, yanking his sleeve. 

“Lup, when have I, me, your brother, ever had a bad idea?” He put his hand over his chest, a look of offense staring back at her.

“Do you want a list?”

Taako shook his head, “I’ll be right back, I promise.” He pulled out of her grasp and turned to rush into one of the small cabins. “Start going, you’ll know when I have it.” 

Lup gritted her teeth to fight back a smile, and took off, snow crunching beneath her shoes. It took maybe thirty seconds for a loud crash to emit behind her, and she broke into a sprint without looking back. Taako quickly caught up to her and threw something wooden into Lup’s hands. Before she could ask what it was, Taako pointed behind him with wide eyes.

“USE IT!”

Lup held the wand in her hand tightly, feeling the texture in her palm. The sound of running behind was quickly catching up to them. She grabbed Taako’s hand in her left, and casted a glance behind her before whipping the wand toward the man with as much force and concentration as she possibly could. 

Nothing happened.

“YOU FUCKING BRAT!” The man behind them screamed, pulling out his own wand and pointing it toward Lup’s left, where Taako was. Fear ignited in her heart, along with on the tip of the wand in her hand. A bolt of fire shot erratically toward the men behind them, hitting the snow and turning up a large cloud of white powder between them.    
Taako let out a cheer of joy, turning to beam at Lup as they continued out of range of the disoriented men. “How did you do that?”

Lup grinned brighter than she had in years. “No idea.”

The two decided half into the woods that they were far enough to regroup safely for a while before they had to continue on.

“That was beautiful, sis.” Taako beamed, putting his hand on her shoulder and looking at the wand with her.

“I want to do it again.” She whispered, pulling her arm back to cast again. She was stopped short, Taako’s hand tightly on her wrist.

“No! They’ll see.” Taako’s voice shook slightly, looking behind them to make sure they really were alone.

“Since when are you afraid of being spotted, hm?” She smirked, perking an eyebrow at her brother.

Taako scoffed, releasing her wrist. “I’m— Afraid? Darling, you’re confusing me for you. Which is ridiculous, by the way, considering how much taller I am.”

“The shoes don’t count.” Lup remarked, her eyes back on the wand. Taako’s voice was drowned out by her concentration on the craftsmanship of the slick wand in her hand. The polished wood felt like it fit into her hand like a missing piece of a puzzle.

“Lup?”

She finally brought her eyes from the oak crafted wood up again, but Taako was facing away from her. She felt her stomach drop. Why did he look so... Inhuman?

“Lup?” The voice floated around her again. She blinked, and everything was gone. The wand in her hand, the snow under her feet, the trees surrounding her, and her brother. 

“T— Taako?” She turned around, trying to survey anything she could find, but there was nothing. The nothingness around her wasn’t black or white, it was simply nothing.

“Lup?” The voice echoed once more, but it wasn’t unfamiliar this time.

“Magnus?”

 

Lup’s eyes shot open, and again were met by blinding light, although this time, it was accompanied by a pounding headache, and throbbing feeling from her nose. She raised a hand to block the lights overhead. What happened? Was she dreaming? She took a moment to look at her no longer small hands, and the lock of blonde hair over her eyes. Before she could get an entire feel of the med bay, she was engulfed in a pair of strong arms wrapped around her tightly. A hand went through her hair shakily, whispering something she couldn’t hear.

“M—Magnus?” The smokey smell of his shirt confirmed her suspicion. “Mags— What did you say? What happened?”

Magnus carefully released her from his hold, and allowed Lup to get a better look around the room. Seeing everyone laying still in the white glow of the bay gave her an even sicker feeling inside.

“I said I was relieved.” Magnus sighed, sitting beside her on her bed, a hand on her leg. “Your guess is as good as mine on what happened.” He looked her over for a moment, almost unsure if she would remain conscious. “We— We were all talking, you and Taako left to make lunch, and next thing I knew Davenport was passed out on the wheel and everyone was on the ground. I found you two on the floor in the kitchen, and—” Magnus stared at Lup for a moment before standing, “I’ll get you something for that.”

“For what?” Lup noticed a small speck of blood fly off her lip as she spoke; her nose was bleeding again. She cursed under her breath pinched her nose, leaning forward.

“It’s not broken, just bruised.” Magnus assured her as he handed her a box of tissues.

“Thanks.” Lup gave him a small smile as she used one hand to clean blood off her chin and the other to put a tissue to her nose. “Wait, wait.. Wait, you didn’t?”

“I didn’t what?”

“Everyone else is in bed, did you not feel it?”

Magnus swallowed hard. “No, no, I didn’t. I got you all in bed, but I feel fine. Do you… Feel okay?” Magnus asked, a look of concern hadn’t left his face since she woke up.

“Hmm… I feel kinda nasty, to be honest. A little out of it. Before though—” Lup shuddered at the thought, resting her hand on her chest. “I’d never felt pain like that before. It felt like someone ripped my heart out of my chest. I really can’t explain it, it’s like…” She shook her head, “I don’t even know. I know Taako felt it, though. Dav, Barry, and Lucretia all probably did too, but… You didn’t.”

“I think it’s magic related. I’m the only one here that isn’t a wizard or anything.” Magnus paused before the sound of a groan down the room perked his interest. The groan transferred into a gasp and Davenport shot up in bed.

“What in the hell—” He was cut short by his own headache, putting the heels of his hands against his forehead.

“Cap’nport!” Magnus nearly leapt from Lup’s bed toward Davenport’s. “Are you alright?”

In sequence, everyone began to wake back up. Merle woke up and promptly fell back asleep, asking for just five more minutes. Magnus shook him awake again and informed him that he was an idiot. Lucretia was scared and confused as the rest, but Merle and Davenport assured her that she was alright. Barry groaned himself awake, and waved everyone away from him.Taako was his own issue; Magnus wrapped him tightly for a reason. He began thrashing under the covers fiercely with heaving breaths. The crew had known him upwards of twenty-seven years, but it always churned stomachs to see him have trouble waking up. Lup rushed to his side and helped him out, wrapping him in her arms before he got the chance to throw himself off the bed, whispering whatever she did to him that calmed him down. 

“What happened? What happened? What happened?” Taako repeated, hugging his sister back. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Lup glanced around the room, and everyone quickly turned back to their own affairs, continuing talking to each other while the twins spoke.

 

Everyone aside from Lup and Taako were sitting together on the other end of the med bay, each with a complimentary blanket over their shoulders and a cup of juice insisted upon by Magnus.

“What do you mean you think it has to do with magic, Magnus?”

“Barry, I’m the one person here that isn’t ‘magically inclined’. What else would it be?”

Lup walked Taako over, hand in hand, leading him to sit next to Barry and Merle. Magnus quickly equipped them each with their own drink and blanket, which they each begrudgingly accepted. “No worries compatriots, Taako’s peachy keen.” He said with his best shit eating grin. “On another note, does anyone else feel like _shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit_.” 

Every mumbled and nodded in agreement.

“Like I got hit by a train.” Merle grumbled into his cup of juice.

“Frankly, I feel uncomfortable.” More sounds of agreement came from Davenport’s speculation. “I didn’t feel too well before it hurt, either.”

“Oh, neither did we.” Taako piped up, pointing to his sister. Merle, Davenport, and Lucretia all hummed in agreement to that as well. The group sat in contemplation for a few moments before Lucretia piped up. “Has anyone tried to… Cast anything since we’ve woken up?” 

Contemplation quickly turned to bleak silence. Everyone looked unnerved, too afraid to speak up.

“No.” Lup broke the silence and turned a scared eye toward Lucretia, who returned the gaze.

Taako threw his hands in the air with a sigh. “If no one else is gonna volunteer to cast a simple fucking cantrip, guess I will.” He put his hands on his hips and shook his head at the group. “Ridiculous, all of you.” He put a hand up, ready to snap. “Have to do everything myself.” He snapped his fingers and watched carefully as nothing happened. The smirk on his face slowly faded as he snapped again. His posture began to sulk as he grabbed his wrist with horrified, wide eyes staring at the palm of his hand. A sheet of dread fell over the room as everyone, with the exception of Magnus made feeble attempts at casting spells, all ending in failure. The only one who managed to cast anything at all was Merle, and it was barely anything to write home about, as the small light he conjured seemed to be a one-time thing.

“Must’ve been Pan.” He sighed grimly. “You bastard in the sky, you gotta give me more than that!” He shook his fist before sitting back down, his face in his hands. 

“Okay, now we know that our magic,” Barry motioned generally toward the whole room. “Is, basically ah… Shut off, with exception of Merle, but barely.” He rubbed his face, standing to pace. “This is really bad.” Davenport admitted, running a hand through his hair. “We don’t know what’s on this planet.”

Magnus furrowed his brow. “Now hey—” 

“We can’t spend the whole year on the Starblaster, we’ll run out of resources, and we still need to find the light of creation.” Barry waved his hand at Davenport. “But without magic—” 

Magnus stood abruptly with his hands in fists. “What would happen? What would happen without magic?”

Barry blinked in astonishment, fumbling on what to say. Taako took over,

“Mango, we didn’t mean—”

“What, that you’re useless without magic? That you need magic to be safe?”

“Magnus.”

“WHAT?” Magnus whipped around to see Lucretia standing behind him, her blanket tightly over her shoulders and her drink cupped carefully in her hands. “Oh—Oh, shit…”

Lucretia took a second to compose herself before speaking again. “Magnus, we don’t mean that you’re not important. Never think that.”

“Lucy, I didn’t—”

Lucretia put her hand on Magnus’ shoulder. “We’re scared, Magnus. Don’t take our fear as an insult.”

A wave of guilt washed over Magnus and he hung his head. “You’re right— You’re right. I’m sorry.” He pulled her into a half hug and kissed her forehead. “I didn’t mean that.”

“I know.” Lucretia smiled, softly humming at his small kiss. “We need to figure out what to do now, though.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. She was right, of course. Everyone on the ship depended on their magic in one way or another besides Magnus, and they had a right to their fear. These planets weren’t usually inherently safe for any of them, and as much as Magnus wouldn’t admit it at the moment, magic saved their lives on more occasions than they could count. 

“We’ll be fine. We’ve got me!” Magnus announced, pointing both thumbs at himself. “I’m the only weapon we need. And, for the record, don’t insult my work. I’ve trained all of you, we know how to fight.”

“Okay, I absolutely know _we’ll_ be fine, we kick ass and can keep ourselves safe.” Lup agreed, standing with Magnus. “But, like, Merle? Taako? No dice.” 

“Wh— I haven’t even done anything!” Merle shouted, pointing a finger at her.

“I’m a better fighter than you, string bean.” Taako remarked, looking over his nails.

“Oh, sure.” Lup and Taako started their bickering, and it began to feel right again. Lucretia sat back down with her forehead in her hand, Merle and Davenport were speaking amongst each other, and Magnus could feel the stress beginning to slowly lift off his shoulders. Maybe they would be okay. What Magnus, along with everyone else still failed to notice, was the speck of light that fell to the surface of the planet under their noses. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yippee ki yay i posted another 1 week later... im like a functioning writer almost. thats crazy wild . thank u for reading my sick nasty fan fiction. im gonna try and post every monday which is a weird post day but i posted it the first time on a monday so now i gotta stick with my own terrible terrible decisions. I WANTED to always be a chapter ahead but chapter 3 isn't toootally done yet but it will be in time for monday and if it isn't i will hire a hitman to kill me so dont even worry .  
> thanks for reading :0


	3. Who are you?

“What do you MEAN you didn’t see if it fell?”

Magnus stood dumbfounded in front of his captain, his mouth agape and his hands upwards in a feeble shrug. “I w— I was—” He was lost for words. “Hey! Okay,” He pointed his finger down at Davenport. “who said that it did? _I’m_ not the one that passed out in the middle of our mission and required medical attention, that was everyone else. I had my hands full. Literally.”

“Okay M—”

“Of you guys.”

“Yes, we get it, I’m sorry.” Davenport sighed and straightened his mustache, “It’s just always... A harder scenario to navigate.”

He was right. Their mission depended solely on their ability to not only locate but hold the light of creation safely until the year was over. Without having the base knowledge of where it _might_ be puts them at a serious disadvantage. Everyone had made their way back to the helm of the ship for damage control. Their ship had passed through the atmosphere (Davenport originally described it as the exosphere, but through the groans of his passengers he was forced to refer to it as such) of the planet, which Davenport surmised as the point where the team lost consciousness. Lucretia was picking up her books and re-organizing her work while Barry worked on cleaning the broken glass in the helm.

Taako groaned loudly, falling onto the couch behind him. “Well, if there’s civilization like you guys have been raving about, maybe someone would’ve seen it. No use sitting up here with our thumbs up our asses.”

Merle raised his hand, “For the record, I have never had my own, or anyone else’s, thumb near OR in my ass.”

“First of all Merle, we know that’s a lie, and second of all, we should at least be a _little_  prepared for this.” Lup interjected. She held her hand up to prevent Merle from speaking again. “I know, I know, magic isn’t everything, but my sick nasty kicks and punches lose just a little bit of flavor that I know and love without a bit of heat, you feel?”

“Don’t worry,” Merle reached into his pocket. “I’ve got you covered.” He pulled out a lighter and put it into the palm of her outstretched hand, folding her fingers over it and patting it gently with a toothy grin.

Lup glared at him and stood up. “I’m keeping this, tiny bastard.” She pocketed the lighter while Merle frowned. “I’m gonna go clean up my face blood I left in the kitchen.”

Barry stood up quickly, broken glass in a dustpan tight in his hands. “I’ll go with you.” The two of them walked off together out of the room and toward the kitchen, Taako’s eyes lingering on them until they were out of sight. He clicked his tongue and turned back to the rest of the group.

“So when’s _that_ gonna happen?”

“Can we please keep our heads out of the gutter for five fucking minutes?”

Taako raised his hands in defense, “Just a joke, Dav, c’mon.”

Davenport shook his head and put his hand on his chin in thought. “She’s right, we need a plan for what’s next. Without magic.” He let out a small sigh. “Well, our directive hasn’t changed. We need to still find the light of creation, so we need to continue to keep an eye out for it in case it didn’t fall. We need to find out why we can’t use magic, or whatever other side-effects whatever happened to us has.”

“Woah woah woah,” Merle stood, shaking his finger, “what do you mean other side effects? Like…” His voice lowered to a whisper. “Impotence?”

“Jesus christ— I mean there’s probably a reason why we can’t use magic, we can’t just assume it stopped working and that’s that, that would— frankly, that would be naive, Merle.”

“Oh,” Merle let out a chuckle, “thank god.”

Magnus shuddered. “That’s disgusting. No one wants to think about that.”

 

Lup and Barry walked side by side to the kitchen in silence and made it maybe three quarters of the way without speaking a word before Barry took a breath and made the first move. “Are you doing okay, Lup?”

She turned to glance at him with a sigh and nodded her head, “Yeah, I’m fine Barold.”

Barry chewed on his cheek for a moment before speaking again, “I just—”

“I said that I’m fine.” Lup snapped back, keeping her eyes forward.

Barry put his arm in front of her, a hand gently on her shoulder to face her towards him. “That’s not fair. I just want to know what’s wrong, I know it’s something.”

“Obviously there’s something wrong, man. My funky juice is run dry, and my whole body feels tense. And—” She sighed, a solemn expression on her face. “I haven’t… You can’t understand how… Weird this is going to be.”

“Why wouldn’t I? No one can cast, I feel like we’re a bit on the same page here.”

“I haven’t been without magic for over a hundred years. Neither has Taako. We’ve kind of relied on it to keep us safe and alive since we were little kids. I know it’s not just some inconvenience for anyone else, but I… Kinda think we’ll be taking this the hardest. Big heads up.” She rubbed her eyes for a moment with a groan. “It’s gonna _suuuuuuuck_.” She laughed, shaking her head.

“Well, we’re in this together, yeah? I know it won’t be the same for any of us, what we’ll be going through with this. It’s not like any of us can use— Unlimited magic anyway. Besides… Magic isn’t what makes you an all-powerful badass, that’s you alone.”

“Oh honey, you don’t need to tell me I’m badass, I know.” She grinned. “But... it’s always nice hearing it, so thank you.” She began walking again with a smile back on her lips, and Barry in tow. “Actually, I did want to ask you something, Bear.”

“Shoot.”

“Did you have, like… A dream? While you were knocked out?”

Barry took a moment to consider this, pouting his lip out slight enough that Lup had to look away and bite her cheek.

“Not that I can think of, no. Why? Did you?”

Lup hummed, putting her hands in her pockets. “More like a memory, but yeah.”

“What was it?”  

“When I was a little squirt, with Taako, we were ah…” She looked at Barry’s somewhat innocent, curious gaze as he adjusted his glasses and she chuckled slightly, “It was the first time I used magic, lets say.”

“Well, it’s relevant if nothing else.”

“Hmm. I guess so.”

 

“It’s primitive, if anything.” Taako observed, looking over the ever so close planet. “I don’t see a single city, or even a suburb. I’m going to _dazzle_ them.” He grinned with a giggle, running his hands down his cloak.

“We can’t make assumptions like that off the bat, we have to expect more than the bare minimum.” Davenport replied, scoping the area with the others. The ship was maybe five miles above the surface at this point after Davenport had returned to his post. “Besides, it’s not like we’ve looked at the entire planet, there could be a metropolitan a hundred miles away and we’d be none the wiser, this could be simple farmland.”

“There could be no people at all.”

“That too, Merle.”

“Wait— What’s that?” Lucretia lunged forward and pointed a finger out towards the left of the ship, directly at a very faint, but noticeable enough line of dark smoke coming from behind a field of trees. “There, do you see that?”

The crew exchanged sideward looks and Davenport reached toward the dashboard of the ship, holding his finger on a button marked KITCHEN. “Lup and Barry, we’ve spotted smoke and we’re going to head towards it to see if there are people or creatures. Over.”

There’s a long hold of silence after Davenport released the button. He furrowed his brow as he leaned to push it again, but static going through halted him. A laugh echoed through before Lup’s voice did.

“Over what?”

“BACK TO THE HELM.” Davenport growled.

The two rushed back to the helm at their captain’s command, Barry clearing his throat and brushing out his shirt as he came in through the archway. “What’re we looking at?”

Magnus pointed his hand toward the line of smoke as Davenport turned the ship.

“What happened to preparing?” Lup interjected, pushing forward toward the front of the helm.

“Don’t worry,” Magnus assured, putting a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from intervening with Davenport’s flying to bring them closer to the surface. “I’ve got us covered.” He motioned behind himself to an assortment of weapons he had chosen from the ships arsenal. “I know we’ve been a bit on edge lately with everything happening, so I think there should be something for everyone in here.” He smiled broadly.

Lup thoroughly examined the display with a proud gaze. “I thought you were the only weapon we needed, Maggie.”

Magnus laughed at her remark, “Yeah, well, in case I died, obviously.”

Taako was holding longbow and examining the string, plucking it absentmindedly. Magnus was wielding the usual axe over his shoulder with a satisfied smile plastered on his face. Merle had grabbed the war hammer and set it nonchalantly beside himself while he watched through the glass with Davenport, who had a crossbow at his side. Lucretia was holding a well crafted quarterstaff, looking it over with a content expression. Lup examined the pick and took two daggers and their hilts, strapping herself with a smile on her face. Barry considered the range of weapons for a moment, with his hand on his chin and a hum. After a moment, he reached for the longsword and weighed it in his hands while he examined the blade. Before he could comment on the craftsmanship, Taako let out a laugh from behind him.

“Okay _nerd_.”

Barry immediately put the longsword back and picked up the glaive beside it without a second word. “Do we know what the smoke is coming from?”

“W-Well… Oh, shit.” Davenport whispered, pulling the ship back just slightly as the small line of smoke erupted into what looked like would become a large wall of grey smog.

“Hatchi matchi— What is THAT?” Along with Taako, the crew flooded beside Davenport to watch as he flew closer.

“A forest fire?” Lucretia had dropped her staff and had her hands full with documentation almost immediately.

“Whatever it is, it didn’t happen on it’s own.” Barry commented, sitting next to Davenport. He glanced at Davenport who returned the look, slowly smiling.

“One way to find out.” He grinned, pulling the ship toward the smoke and speeding forward.

“It’s only fire, I stand by primitivity.” Taako stated, turning out of the helm to strap on a quiver of arrows and pull the bow over his shoulder. After five minutes of flying, the source of the fire became apparent. Davenport’s assumption was right about the area being farmland, as it appeared as if crops were being burned once they saw past the forest surrounding the land. Davenport pointed out behind the crops a small house on the edge of the land.

“Can’t be too primitive.”

“We’ve been starting fires and planting grass since forever, half-pint.”

Davenport pulled the Starblaster around the smoke to the left in order to lower toward the ground. As they lowered, more details became visible; the land occupied a few acres of farmland surrounded by thick forests. Upon inspection, the single house was the only home within the area that was visible apart from two large, wooden barns. Three figures appeared by the burning crops, and they didn’t take long to notice the ship flying overhead. They froze, then broke out running away from their crops toward the house on the other side of the land. The crew exchanged glances, but unanimously decided to land nonetheless.

“They’re burning crops, I don’t think the extra force is a necessity.” Lucretia set her quarterstaff aside against her desk. “If we show force, they will assume our intentions are violent.”

“I’m not taking off the daggers.”

“Sure, Lup, but… Maybe the warhammer… And the axe could be ah... “ Lucretia pursed her lips, glancing over the crossbow, glaive, and longbow. “Hm…”

“I could… Hold it behind my back.” Magnus strapped the axe onto his back, the blade barely showing and the handle sticking up beside his head. Merle held his hands behind his back, the hammer clearly visible. Lucretia sighed, but Lup smiled brightly, giving them both a thumbs up.

“Well,” Barry sighed, “guess we sh—” He was cut off by the sound of something ricocheting off metal. “Can I finish a fucking sentence?”

Taako moved to the window and spotted the cause of the noise; a fourth smaller figure that had emerged from the house was throwing rocks at the Starblaster. “Hey! HEY! YOU LITTLE BITCH! DON’T SCRATCH THAT SHINE!” His finger was pressed hard against the glass, along with his forehead. “HEY!”

“The shield is up, Taako!”

“It’s the thought that counts, Barry!” Taako pushed past him, “I’m gonna kick his ass.”

“He’s a _kid_!” Merle protested, following after. Everyone else let out reluctant groans, but followed suit nonetheless, weapons in hand.

“Please do not actually start our year with the blood of a child on your hands, Taako.” Davenport called out.

“No promises on that one Cap’n.” Taako called back as he reached the door. He waited for the rest of the crew to pile behind him— Magnus pulled up at his left, smiling down brightly at him.

“Wh—... Why are you making that face at me? What’s up with that.”

“What face?”

“You’re all giddy, cut that shit out.”

Magnus bumped Taako in the shoulder with his fist lightly before he opened the door.

As the hatch slowly opened and revealed the seven lost crew members of the IPRE’s very own Starblaster, Magnus smiled brightly and opened his hands, ready to give his spiel to anyone within proximity.

“Hail—”

He was unable to finish that short sentence on account of the two guns being pointed in their direction.

One was being held by a fifty-or-so looking man with silver hair, intense blue eyes, and the full intention to pull the trigger, while the other being shakily held by a young boy with blonde hair that couldn’t have been older than twelve who looked more scared than anyone on the ship. The other two figures they had seen in the air were standing a bit away from the confrontation closer to the house, an older woman who’s blonde hair was greying and a young woman with jet black hair and eyes to match. After a moment of shocked silence between all on board and the four humans on the ground, the young woman beelined into the house, leaving the ten of them alone. The man was the first to break the silence.

“Who are you people?” His deep voice growled, not a single waiver in his voice or his aim. His eyes jumped between each of them, his eyebrows furrowing in frustration and confusion. His eyes settled on Taako and Lup for a moment, scanning them in confusion, then to Merle and Davenport with the similar look of uncertainty. “What… _What_ are you people?”

The four in question exchanged quizzical looks. What was he talking about? Lup reached toward her elven ears and examined the vast difference of her height compared to Davenport and Merle’s. “Are there only humans here?”

“DON’T MOVE!” The older man shouted, causing the young boy to let out a short gasp, the gun shaking in his hands.

Magnus’ attention moved to the young boy with a quick feeling of dread as the gun’s aim moved around the group unsteadily. He raised one hand with care as his eyes lingered on the small boy, trying to convey his peaceful intention. “Ahm— Listen, we really mean no trouble. We’re travellers.”

“Like hell. You come for me? My family? You cocky bastards. We left, we ain’t causing no more trouble.” His eyes moved to Davenport. His short stature, bright red hair, pale skin, and pointed ears made him an easy target for the barrel of the man’s gun. “Youse James’ rats? Huh?”

“No— Who the hell is James? N—” Davenport shook his head, his hands up in the air. “We don’t work for anybody, we’re scientists. Please— Put the guns down, we mean no harm. Please, let us explain ourselves”

The man’s eyes flickered between all of them, his interest in the weapons they were all wielding glared obvious to the group. He bore his teeth and his words seeped through with disgust.

“You lie through your teeth, boy.”

Magnus took a small step forward, his hand over Taako in attempt to push him behind him.

“I said don’t move.” The gun was cocked and moved from Davenport back to Magnus, aimed square at his chest.

“Sir, we really –“

“Y’all are gonna back up real smooth, back into that shiny flyin’ thing. Hear me?”

No one wanted to follow the man’s ignorant instruction, but with two guns pointed at them and seemingly no way to properly defend themselves without definite injury, or potential death, what else could they do?. As much as the crew really relied on Merle’s ability to properly and helpfully cast spells, he wasn’t at his usual _useful_ capacity.

“This is wild ridiculous.” Taako mumbled, hands on his hips.

“Can’t we just kick these guys’ asses?” Merle asked, poking Barry in the elbow. Barry returned a fiery glare back at him, hissing back that he needed to shut up.

“It really wouldn’t hurt you to literally listen to us for five minutes, dude. You’re making this, like, a super high-stress situation.” Magnus huffed, waiting for a response. He glanced around the crew who all gave a similar agreeing nod and a shrug with the exception of Barry who looked more than willing to just step back into the ship and land elsewhere.

“Magnus we really don’t need to make this our, ah, spot. We can—”

Magnus held up his hand, “No, this is super rude, right? Maybe they’re hiding something.”

“Maybe aliens landed on their property.”

The man’s slim patience ran dry at Barry’s last comment. He raised his voice for a fateful fourth time, his tone shaking out of his throat. “GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!”

For Taako, this moment ran in slow motion. The situation had settled just enough for the young boy’s nerves to begin to calm down, but the man’s outburst threw him over the edge. Strangers were invading his home, he was holding a gun far too big for his hands, and behind him was a fire growing larger than his house. He let out a sudden, scared cry. He shut his eyes tight. His fingers took a moment to find the trigger, and he pulled it. At the man’s raised tone, Taako flinched away to watch the boy’s movements in horror. The barrel was aiming at Magnus. He couldn’t protect himself from something like that, he wasn’t expecting it, of course Taako needed to move in. Unfortunately for Taako, in his moment of panic, he forgot a major detail of this year’s mission and, by force of habit, attempted to cast a shield for Magnus. He grabbed Magnus’ arm in his left hand, stepped forward while yanking him backward and used his right to carve a semi-circle in the air. Before he could realize what he had done, he had been twisted backward by the bullet piercing through him, and his ears were ringing too loud to hear his sister screaming his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im gonna go back and write up summaries some time this week because im realizing i havent done that (oof my bad)  
> anyways! i dont think i have much to say about this chapter next chapter is kinda super chaotic but no worries. taako is [redacted]


	4. Something's in the air

Tranquil sunlight slowly beamed down onto a field of dewey grass littered with wildflowers, dandelions, and all other colors floating and spinning in the shape of bugs or petals falling from a nearby blossomed tree. The sky was a dark violet that faded to red toward the rising sun. The air was brisk in the early spring weather, but the gentle light creeping over the treetops warmed the air. Not long after one bright sun rose into the sky, another smaller sun followed after while the sky’s rose tone shifted toward a more lilac color. The sunrise was observed by a small elven boy who was seated under the blossom tree with his arms wrapped around his knees and his chin resting on them. The cool wind grew warmer as he waited patiently. What would happen? Would he be able to do it? He turned to the small book he had swiped just a few weeks ago and had been thumbing through with his sister, every page filled with arcane knowledge and wizard’s magic. Lup was far more interested in the fiery aspects of the text, but Taako’s interest lied within the transmutation. He hadn’t been able to fully cast a spell just yet, and even though Lup insisted that it was because he was only just starting, he felt dread every time it didn’t work out the way he wanted it to. 

Lup was late, he thought to himself. What could she possibly be doing? He thought this was the important trip they were taking today, together, not alone. He let out a long groan and laid back on the tree, his eyes fixed upwards through the branches and light, colorfuls leaves. The vibrance of the purple sky beamed through them, leaving him with an assortment of colors and shadows across his face.

“Get up, dummy!” A voice called, attracting his attention. Lup was jogging toward him from the light with something in her arms that Taako couldn’t make out from the light shining behind her silhouetting her figure. After she came closer, he saw what it was: A picnic basket.

“Where’d you get this, Lu?”

“Lets not get caught up in the details, hm?” Lup smirked, setting it between them and opening it to reveal an assortment of breads and colorful drinks in glass jars. “Have you been practicing?”

“Do I look like I’ve been practicing?” Taako replied with a slight sharpness in his tone.

Lup frowned at him and dropped a warm roll into his hand. “Just try, okay? I know you’re frustrated, but you can do it. Stop being a loser.” 

Taako huffed and glanced at the bread with a sneer. “Want it the same thing?”

“Obviously.” 

Taako sighed and reached for the wand at his side. It was dark wood and engraved with gold trim- A good find, he informed Lup on countless occasions. He set the roll down carefully on the top of the basket and pointed the wand at it.

He shut his eyes and let out a deep breath, focusing on the roll. He opened his eyes and grimaced at what was in front of him. The same roll. He grit his teeth in a groan and threw the wand off to the side.

“C’mon Takis, just focus.” She picked up the wand and set it gently into his hand. “Focus on the roll.”    
Taako held the want reluctantly and sighed again. He shut his eyes and let his mind wander. He thought of a chilled slice of soft sponge cake, moist and savory. He remembered the first time their aunt ever showed them how to make it, and neither of them had ever tasted anything so light or soft in their lives. He imagined how it was cooked, in that funny shaped pan, how she had shown them how to whip cream, and how strawberries added an amazing sweet taste to it all. He attempted to cast again, but this time he felt warmth in his hand. His eyes shot open and what was sitting in place of the roll was a small, round, cakelike treat. 

Lup was beaming at him with sparkling eyes. Her arms shot up and she let out a short cheer, tapping him on the side of the face. “Look at you!”

Taako smiled brightly back, “Don’t cheer just yet, we have to taste it first.” He picked up the treat in his hand and pulled it in two, handing the bigger half to Lup. “Ready?” Lup nodded and they simultaneously took bites from Taako’s magic treat. The sweet taste of the cakey bread filled their mouths and they both shared a gaze of utmost delight. They were both good cooks, of course, but neither of them had a taste of luxury in years. It was never much of a necessity to make anything that wouldn’t directly keep them alive. Lup pulled two jars of colorful liquid from the basket and handed one to Taako. “Think you can turn this into wine?”

Taako’s smile lingered long while he considered it; he wiped his mouth on his sleeve and made a hunched step closer to her as he grabbed the jar, “I hope so.” He held it tight in his hands and stared at the liquid inside. He remembered sneaking wine for himself and Lup while they stayed with a handful of different people, and it had stopped burning when he drank it. Wine. Wine. Wine, he thought hard, high on the feeling of power the simple sponge cake brought him. The light grape juice began to change tones and Taako grinned widely. “Lup! Look!”

Suddenly, the glass was hot in his hands. Very hot. He hissed in pain and dropped it, only for the glass to not shatter, but melt away. His eyes and Lup went wide as the liquid sizzled on the ground before laying dormant. The twins exchanged glances, and Lup spat out the rest of her cake.

“Maybe we ah… Stop eating the transmuted stuff for a bit.”    
Taako nodded broadly, hissing again and holding his hands tight, his eyes shut. 

“Taako?”

Taako looked up, but Lup was facing away from him. He felt a shiver run down his spine and his stomach drop. Something was wrong with her, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. It was her curly brown hair, it was her shoulders, it was her back, but… It wasn’t his sister. It wasn’t moving, not with the breeze, not to breathe… It couldn’t be her. It wasn’t a person at all.

“Lulu?” His voice cracked, and in an instant he was alone. In an instant, his hands stopped hurting, and in another instant, his chest began to. Ripping pain quickly faded into his ribs and lung and through his back, the taste of blood found its way into his mouth, and ringing in his ears filled the silence that had become of the world he was in. 

What world?

 

Taako’s eyes shot open and he gasped sharply for air, immediately his lungs ripped with pain and he fell into a coughing fit, involuntarily curling his limbs into himself and turning to his side.  

Pairs of hands pulled him flat onto his back again while he heaved through his pain. What the fuck was going on? His eyes were darting around the room as he was dragged into a metallic ship, then, encased in a pair of shaking arms. Everything felt unfamiliar until the glasses of the individual reflected light into his eyes- Barry? A soft hand rested against his forehead to brush his hair out of his eyes, her dark skin and shaking fingers revealing her as Lucretia. Thundering footsteps began echoed through his ears as the ringing started to subside, however the most common noise he heard from an assortment of voices was his name. Everything started coming back to him- The guns, the older man, the son, Magnus, his failed attempt to cast a spell. The dream.

He coughed again, his own voice brittle but determined.

“Lup.” He croaked. “Where’s Lup?”

Lup’s face quickly came into his vision- Elven and real. She was how she should be. “Taako! You’re gonna be okay, alright? We just got here, we’re not gonna let you die just yet.”

“Magnus.” He wheezed, pain throbbing throughout his body. He was starting to feel cold.

“He’s lost a lotta blood, c’mon!” Merle’s voice managed to break through as he saw the doors of the med bay come into view. Merle, Barry, Lup, and Lucretia were here, but where were Magnus and Davenport?

 

Bang.

The gun fired, bullet ripping straight through Taako’s chest. He let out a horrible, frightened yell, and stuttered for barely an instant before collapsing to the ground. Everyone rushed to him, while the young boy dropped the gun and bolted into his house, tears streaming down his face. While the group assisted Taako, however, Magnus locked eyes with the older man. He reached over his shoulder and pulled his axe off his back while he made his way towards him.    
“Magnus, stop!” Davenport cried, unsure if it would be safe to follow him, or cowardice if he were to run back into the ship. Magnus waved him away, so he stayed put.

“I’ll shoot you too, bastard!” The man shouted, pulling the trigger. The bullet deflected off of Magnus’ axe into the ground and he he pursued his target. 

“Magnus, DON’T!”

“NO!” The scream of the woman ripped through from behind them. 

The man was struggling to reload his gun, panic setting in as this bear of a man refused to back down. His voice stuttered, his movements jagged, his hands fumbled. He dropped the extra round and pulled the gun up to hit this man with, swinging it with all his might. Magnus released one hand from the grip of his axe and grabbed the swinging gun by the barrel, eyes locked with the man as he ripped it from his palms. He threw it to the ground, grabbed his axe in both hands and swung down on it, the crunch of metal-on-metal horrible and sharp, but the large crack down the barrel and the splintering wood proved Magnus’ intention. He picked the gun up and locked eyes with the man as he shoved it into his hands. He turned his back and jogged back into the Starblaster, motioning Davenport to follow him on board. Magnus turned once more to watch the man fall to a knee, the gun held weakly in his hands.

“And  _well met_.” He hissed through gritted teeth as he shut the hatch.

Magnus shot a dreadful look at Davenport while they examined the small pool of blood they were standing in. They shared a moment of silence together, a moment to gather themselves after the very rapid events took place.

“I- I know… I know we’re never really dead, in our profession here...” Davenport stuttered, “But it’s never easy when it happens.” His eyes trailed the drops and smears of red that ran out of the base toward what he hoped was the med bay. “Magnus,” Davenport put his small hand on his Magnus’ elbow, “something feels very wrong about this planet.” 

Magnus furrowed his brow and looked down at Davenport, surprised to see such a look of dismay on his face. He turned to look at him and removed his hand.

“I can’t put my finger on it, I really can’t, but… Something isn’t right. I don’t know if it’s because we’re all blocked from casting magic, I don’t know if its because the one local we’ve talked to is, well, ignorant and racist? I guess? Something just feels off in a very, very bad way.” 

Magnus grit his teeth. Nothing felt correct here, Davenport was right on the money with that one, but there was an innate fear in Davenport that Magnus couldn’t grasp. Magnus put his hand on Davenport’s shoulder as he looked again down the hall. “We should go see if Taako is okay.”

Davenport looked almost… Angry, at his suggestion. “Are you not listening to me?”

Magnus blinked a few times, returning his gaze to Davenport. 

“Of course I am, and I agree. Taako just got fucking shot! I’m saying we should go make sure he’s okay.”

Davenport looked up at him with a furrowed brow and a dissatisfied look, but silently agreed.

“You go on ahead, I’m… I’m gonna move the ship.” He ran his hands through his hair and turned to the helm. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Magnus sighed and shook his head but rushed toward the med bay nonetheless. He stopped only at the sight of Barry and Lucretia sitting outside the med bay. Lucretia was pacing and holding the clasp on the front of her robe, rubbing it in circles with her thumb. Barry was sitting on the floor opposite to the door with his glasses in one hand, the other massaging the bridge of his nose. They both looked up at Magnus at the sound of him coming into the foyer.

“Hey. Where’s Dav?”

Magnus nodded his head at Barry. “Moving the ship. How is he?”

Lucretia and Barry shared solemn glances.

“Fuck- Is he dead?” Magnus felt his stomach drop as his eyes darted at the door, “He’s already dead?” 

Barry quickly stood up and put his hand on his shoulder, shaking his head, “No, no, no, he’s not dead. Not last we saw of him, anyway.” He didn’t bother putting his glasses back on, instead he hooked them on his shirt. “He woke up for a few seconds before going back under while we were bringing him toward the med bay, he was worried about you and Lup, I think. She’s in there with Merle, he’s trying to get anything left of the bullet out now.”

Magnus rubbed his eyes with a sigh, moving to where Barry was and sliding to the ground with his arms rested on his knees. Lucretia came to his side, kneeling down and setting her hand on his shoulder. “Merle seemed confident in what he was doing. If Taako does die, at- At least-” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence. The three felt the ship begin to move.

“Davenport and I were talking a minute ago… He was going on about how something feels off.”

“Something does feel off.” Lucretia looked up at Barry who kneeled beside Magnus as well. Barry blinked and rubbed his eye as he reached blindly for his glasses and slipped them back on, putting a hand on Magnus’ shoulder. “You’re bleeding, Magnus. Are you okay?”

Magnus hadn’t noticed that the bullet that went through Taako grazed him as well, only at the mentioning of it feeling the sting. The pull in his gut refused to let him go. He really could’ve been killed just then. “It’s just a scratch, it’s really not what we should be worrying about right now.”

Barry let out a huff and sat beside him. “Lucretia and Davenport are right… Something does feel wrong. I really don’t know if its just- Stress, or if it’s some kind of side effect, I- I- I just feel like something bad is waiting for us around every corner right now. I feel helpless. I feel _useless_.”

“Barry, you’re not-”

“We’ve been here a couple days and Taako might already be dead from a threat we- we- we could’ve handled without a second thought had it been a different world!” Lucretia shrunk at Barry’s accusation, “Almost dead because of what he couldn’t do!” 

Magnus moved to speak, but Barry stopped him before he even got the chance to open his mouth. “No, Magnus, you don’t have a say in this right now. I know you want us to realize our potential without magic, or whatever, but I can’t hear that right now. Everything has been happening at a sonic speed since the second we got here, and I know it’s not your fault, but we’re seeing this at a different wavelength right now.”

“What, do you think I’m not stressed right now?”

Lucretia piped in- “Guys, please don’t-”

“I’m part of this group, I’m in this scenario, it’s not just all of you, and then Magnus watches from outside, okay? I carried your limp bodies to the med bad what feels like an- An hour ago, and you think I’m not terrified? I didn’t know if any of you were going to wake up. What if I had to spend this year alone? We just got here. I can’t handle living alone for a year while I’m also making enemies apparently everywhere I go!”

“Oh _please_ -”

“BOYS!”

Magnus and Barry turned to face Lucretia who had stood up abruptly, and their tense expressions immediately melted into guilt- Tears were streaming down her face. 

“You’re both fighting about the same thing. It’s not a contest to see who’s more afraid right now, it’s about working together to stay alive. That’s always what it’s always been, and this doesn’t change because we can’t use magic right now. You’re both scared, why does it matter what caused it if it’s the same fear?” She held her fists tight. “We’re all scared. I’m _terrified_. We’ve been here less than a week and you’re at each other’s throats” She turned on her heel and walked quietly out of their view, passing Davenport on the way out.

Davenport did a double-take on the situation- Lucretia was sniffling and her pace was quickening, Magnus and Barry were sitting side by side on the floor with their faces in their hands.

“What the fuck did you two do?”

Barry stood and adjusted his glasses, following after Lucretia, “I’ll talk to her.” 

Davenport’s gaze moved from Barry as he passed, and back to Magnus again. 

He let out a soft sigh. “This is- This is high stress. We need to start over.” He lowered himself next to Magnus on the floor, his feet outstretched and his face in his hands. They sat without saying a word for what felt like another hour before Davenport shook out his hands with a groan. “We should find somewhere remote and have- Just have a moment to relax.”

“What about the light?” Magnus turned to him with furrowed brows.

Davenport waved his hand. “We’re no use if we’re at each other’s throats. Besides…” His eyes moved to the shut door of the med bay. “We can’t forget about Taako.” He cast a sideways glance at Magnus. “Is he dead?”

“No, not that I know of.”

He hummed quietly. He crossed his legs and set his chin in his hands and shut his eyes. 

“I agree.” Magnus finally replied after a few minutes of silence.

“Hm?”

“We should find another spot to just… Relax. Cool off, just until we figure ourselves out. I hate being on edge- I can’t imagine what all of you are feeling right now. I hope Barry and Lucretia are alright.”

 

Barry was walking with his hands in the pockets of his cloak and his eyes down. Everything felt like it was falling to pieces- But he knew it wasn’t. As much as their loss of magic was detrimental to their mission, there was no reason for them to be feeling this disconnected and angry, at one another. Something was on this planet, and it was making them do this, he was sure of it. He and Magnus had never fought like that before, and he’d surely never in a hundred years imagine that either of them could ever be the reason Lucretia, perfect lucretia would fall to tears. Hell, Merle was going to be furious with them. His eyes raised again to watch the doors of their rooms. He walked past all their bedrooms, dragging a hand against each one. Taako’s, which had sticky-notes from the rest of the crew covering the door with chores he said he would do and didn’t. Magnus’, which had drawings of an axes scribbled all over it, courtesy of Lup. Merle’s, which was somehow dirty and had mushrooms growing from it. Davenport’s had the handle lowered by the twins, which he was furious about, but never moved it back. Lup’s, which, come to think of it, might not be accessible to her anymore. She had hexed it to form into the wall unless she or Taako were to attempt to enter. He passed his own door, which used be littered in sticky notes in a similar fashion to Taako’s, but now only has a handful of insults from Lup that he has somehow ‘forgotten’ to remove. When he brushed his hand against Lucretia's, however, he nearly fell into her room as the door wasn’t shut all the way.

“I’m sorry- Oh, hm.” She wasn’t in there. He peeked his head in and glanced around. “Lucretia?” No response. He sighed, turning to leave, but seeing something that caught his eye. A white book, similar to the journals Lucretia had been cataloging in for the past years in all regards beside the vibrant white glow was set on her bed. An urge rose up in Barry, what could she be writing about that she didn’t want the rest to be able to see? He knew it wasn’t his business, and tried to leave, but before he knew it he was sitting on her bed with the book in his hands. There was a crest engraved on the front of the book deep in the pristine white leather with gold trim around the spine. He stared at it in his hands with a groan. What was wrong with him?

After a moment, a voice broke through. “Barry?”

Barry shut the cover of the book quickly and stood, slightly relieved to see Magnus, but dread still in the air at being caught. 

“Fuck, listen-“

“I don’t have the-“ Magnus grit his teeth and shook his head. “Lucretia was in the kitchen. I don’t have the time… Or the patience to deal with this right now. Let’s go.”

Barry hung his head with a looming sheepishness and carefully set the book how he found it on the bed before heading out with Magnus. He shut the door behind him, and swallowed his pride as he opened his mouth.

“Magnus I didn’t read- I didn’t read it. I don’t know why I- I would _never_ -“

“I get it.” He hissed, keeping his eyes off him. “I don’t want to keep secrets, Barry… But there’s enough going on right now, and I don’t need to give her any more stress.” 

Barry sighed, considering for a moment to fight his case before realizing his fault and quietly following. “Has- Any updates?”

“He’s not dead yet.” He said shortly.

Barry nodded and crossed his arms as they walked in silence. What the fuck? He needed to talk to someone— He wanted to talk to Taako, he’d be the one to ask about this, but that wouldn’t happen. He couldn’t get Lup’s opinion, her brother just got shot in the chest. Sure, he’ll be back, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect her in the present.

The two arrived, and the group was waiting again outside of the med bay. Davenport had pulled a chair from presumably the kitchen and Lucretia was set on it with her chin rested in her hands, her elbows perched on her crossed legs. The men exchanged looks, but decided, for the better of the group, to have a moment of silence between them. Barry sat again on the floor, his eyes away from Lucretia and on his hands. He would talk to someone- From what Magnus said, Davenport was having moments of concern as well, and he certainly didn’t look very good either. Magnus crossed his arms and stayed on his feet, leaning against the wall. He knew Barry was a good man, everyone knew that. Magnus knew it well, but something was happening to him, and he didn’t know what. From his behavior, from Lucretia’s break, from Davenport’s anxiety, and Lup’s concern- Something was undeniably wrong with everyone. Davenport sat beside Barry on the floor with his legs crossed and his hands weaved together in his lap. He felt himself unweaving, and knew the rest of the crew was on the same sinking ship. He looked around the hall- Magnus was in contemplation, Barry looked guilty, and Lucretia just looked tired. He pushed himself to his feet and scuttered out of the room, attracting Lucretia’s attention as he did. She uncrossed her legs and sighed, reaching up to her tight bun on her head to undo it and let her hair down in waves. She felt quick relief of the tension on her head, but her headache didn’t vanish completely. 

Twenty minutes go by. 

They hear a pitiful cry of pain from behind the doors.

Thirty minutes go by.

Davenport returned with a platter of drinks, handing out different mugs to the three. For Magnus, a coffee with lots of sugar. For Barry, a coffee with almond milk. For Lucretia, lemon tea. Finally, for himself, a black coffee spiked whiskey he pulled from Lup’s “special cabinet”. 

Another hour goes by in silence.

Davenport was knocked awake by Barry’s light nudge, and Merle was standing before them with his glasses hooked on his button, and his arms up to his elbows stained with blood. He had bags under his eyes and his hands were shaking just barely.

“Jesus Christ, Merle- What happened in there?”

“He’s a ah- A thrasher.” He grumbled, unhooking his glasses from his shirt and wiping specks of blood off the lens and setting them back on his nose. “There were maybe three shards stuck in ‘im, and his lung collapsed.” He observed the expressions of the crew and cleared his throat. “He’ll be fine, but he’s supposed to be sleeping.” He turned to the door and stuck his head in. “C’mon, Lup! Let ‘im sleep!” He sighed, pulling his head out and unbuttoning his blood soaked shirt, “I know I’m gonna. G’night kids, I’m hittin’ the hay.” 

Davenport’s eyes trailed after Merle as he walked out of view and let out a suppressed yawn. “If he’s alright-... I’m gonna get some sleep too. A nap, or… I don’t know.” He followed after Merle quietly.

The other two men nodded in agreement and head back with them, going to their rooms. Lucretia, however, poked her head past the med bay door. 

Taako was still. He was hooked up to two machines, one going into his hand, the other, a tube coming out of his side. For his collapsed lung, she surmised. Lup sat by his side leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, her eyes locked on her brother. Lucretia shut the door quietly, leaving them alone in their silence to return to her own room.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there were about 40 uses of "-" and i couldnt bring myself to change them all into proper dashes and im sorry. taakos not dead! relax... i would never . i know this is all very chaotic and jumbled but theyre all feeling very chaotic and jumbled and thats ezra's excuse for bad writing whoops.   
> ALSO : might move publication to fridays because mondays are just sad lmk


	5. Break up or Make up

A small fluorescent light lit a corner of the kitchen table, where papers and books were stacked. Pens and ink were scattered across the table as well, the light barely reaching all of the materials that had flooded the table more than seemed to be intentional. A cup of lukewarm lemon tea sat within the mess of documents, carefully set as to not spill onto the papers. Above head, the clear and sunny sky that was present in the morning was replaced by a heavy storm booming into the roof of the starblaster. The small patch of open grass this metallic ship was parked quietly was surrounded completely by dense forest. Outside the hatch of the ship was a half lit fire pit, originally forgotten, but with the help of the storm overhead, the flame was extinguished. Set neatly around the firepit were a handful of blankets which were forgotten as well, soaking up the rain in the quiet wilderness. The crew had planned to spend the night outside to relax, they had even planned on having Lup cook for them on the fire, but the rain halted their attempts. Lucretia attempted to cast a shield absentmindedly over their heads, but choked up after she realized it was futile. Lucretia set her elbows onto the documents stacked in front of her and rested her face in her hands. What time was it? She groggily looked toward the clock across the room; five thirty-five AM. She let out a small whimpered laugh and reached her hand toward her tea, promptly spilling it over some of her work. In a panic, she jumped to stop the spill, thus knocking it onto the floor with a loud shatter. She cursed under her breath and stumbled to get a towel for the spill. She spun around the table to clean up what she could, unknowingly headed directly for the shattered ceramics, which she would have stepped directly onto had Barry not been at the scene, quickly wrapping his arms around her and spinning her back the opposite direction.    
Lucretia let out a gasp, unable to process what just happened. “Wh- Wait-..”

Barry put his hands onto Lucretia’s shoulders, looking her over through tired, puffy eyes. “ I heard a crash- Are you okay? What are you doing? You should be getting rest.” He stood up straight, turning toward the papers and squinting. “Oh, Lu…”

“I can’t sleep when I don’t know what’s going on, Barry.” Lucretia ran her fingers through her hair with a grimace. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”

Barry frowned at her, adjusting his glasses. “No one wants anyone else getting hurt, but you can’t stay up like this.” He shook his head. “We haven’t had Taako for two days, hopefully he’ll be up today but we can’t lose you to sleep deprivation, okay?”

“I know but- I feel like I’m getting so close.” She moved back toward the table again, “If we just-”

Barry stepped toward her and picked her up again, moving her away from the table with a feeble laugh, “Can we clean up first, at least?” 

The two laughed quietly together, and Lucretia stepped back long enough for Barry to get out a dustpan to clean the broken mug. Barry attempted a joke of that mug being Taako’s favorite, but Lucretia’s expression stopped it dead in its tracks. “So-” He mumbled as he dumped the shards into the trash and took as seat at the table, “What’ve you got?”

Lucretia sighed, safely heading to the table for the third time. “It can’t have anything to do with the planes, we would’ve known before getting so close to the planet, and we would’ve seen something wrong, right?” Barry nodded and Lucretia went on, “So it has to do with something on the planet itself. I know we can’t go back to the family that shot Taako, but we have to talk with the locals of this planet at some point. I wanted to see if Merle would look into the vegetation to see if it could possibly have anything to do with it, because it seems different from what I’m familiar with. It could be a coincidence, but I’m not going to rule anything out right now. Maybe it isn’t natural, though, the-... Barry, why are you looking at me like that?”

Barry’s expression of interest had been fading into concern. “I’d love to hear more about this after you’ve /rested, Lucretia.” 

She shook her head with a stifled laugh, “No, Barry, I’m getting closer, and I need to keep working.”

Barry shook his head in return, standing up and putting a hand onto her shoulder, squeezing it tight. “You can’t do this all on paper, we need to go out and find out what’s happening. And /we need to figure it out together, remember? All of us.” 

Lucretia looked at him through a range of emotions; anger, confusion, and finally agreement. She took a step closer to him and he pulled her into a hug, her forehead against his shoulder. They stood like that for a long time, Barry hugging Lucretia and Lucretia half asleep in Barry’s arms. Barry took a deep breath and looked up, ready to speak, but his voice was caught in his throat as his eyes locked outside the window. Any natural light that had been coming through the rain through the window was pulled from the room, but unnatural light wasn’t sparse either. Flashes of color refracted through the rain across Barry’s face as he caught a glimpse of the Hunger, while it also caught a glimpse of him. Before he could compose his words, it was gone.

“Barry?”

“We should go to bed.” He mumbled, putting an arm around her shoulder and leading her out of the kitchen. She had enough to deal with in the moment.

 

A classroom. A snowy afternoon. A teacher. Danger.

“BARRY!”

Barry shot out of bed with a gasp, his hand over his chest and one flying to his forehead in a heave. A dream was lingering on his mind, but the abrupt call pushed it out of his memory. Who the fuck was screaming like that?

Three hefty raps beat against his door. “Barry, get the hell up, Lup’s making pancakes. I’m gonna eat em’ all if you don’t get down here!”

Merle. Merle was screaming like that. He could only imagine Lup asked him to wake him up nicely, but that wasn’t Merle’s forte. He groggily rolled over, “Yeah, yeah. One minute.” He fumbled his hands toward the clock beside his bed with a groan- Seven thirty. Three hours of sleep. He rubbed his hands into his eyes with a groan but pulled himself out of bed nonetheless. Once he got to the kitchen, everyone turned and gave him a look over- Slippers, crooked glasses, half-open eyes.

“Someone had a good night.” Magnus said into his coffee. 

Barry held one finger up and shuffled to the table to pick up a coffee, sipping it carefully. “Please.” He whispered, finally able to open his eyes. “How’s everyone else this fun morning?”

The group consensus was average. Lup was busy flipping pancakes, Magnus was looking out the window, Merle was eating, and Davenport was on a stool helping Lup in place of Taako. He felt out of place in the situation, but couldn’t put his finger on why. “Lucretia sleeping in?”

“Figured she’d need to.” Magnus held up a pad of paper with drawings and notes scribbled over every inch. “She needs a vacation.”

Barry nodded, taking a seat besides Merle. “The Hunger came down last night.”

Everyone seemed to skip a beat at that. They knew they hadn’t been looking for the Light, but seeing how time passed was a cruel reminder. 

“That’s-... Well, it’s not like we can be surprised or anything, it’s been, what? A week?” Davenport piped in, putting down the bowl of batter and taking a plate of pancakes. “Usually how it goes down, isn’t it?”

Barry hummed, accepting the plate as he set it in front of him.

“We should start looking for the light.” Merle stated factually, receiving glances from everyone in the room as he shoved a mass of pancake into his mouth. “Noh, rhlly,” He swallowed, “Sittin’ in here, waitin’ on some shit to turn back on, or waitin’ on one of us to have some kind of epiphany as of why we can’t do shit isn’t gonna help any of us. Know what’s gonna help? Completing the mission. We’re not doin’ anyone any favors sittin’ on our asses- What, waiting for Taako?” 

“Merle, we’re not leaving Taako.” Lup’s voice stabbed through the air.

“Hey, hey, I’m not sayin’ we  _ leave _ him, just… We don’t, as six people who weren't shot in the chest, do nothing just because he was.” His eyes scanned the room and he furrowed his brow, shrinking just slightly. “What? I’m being practical.” 

“You’re being a fucking asshole.” Lup grit her teeth and pointed the spatula in her hand sharply toward Merle.

“An asshole? Didn’t I just save Taako’s life? Did I dream that? Or were you in there with me while I pulled the fuckin’ shards out of his lung!”

“And we’re all very grateful,” Magnus interjected. He could physically feel the tension in the air at this point, “Taako almost died. Merle stopped that from happening, right?” Magnus urged Lup, who huffed and gave a nod, turning away from them. “And Merle, Lup is justifiably worried about- Well, actually-”

“Oh come ON!” 

Before he knew it, Barry was back in the fight as well. “Magnus, the only reason Taako has a hole in him is because of you anyway.” The second the words left his mouth, he wished he could grab them and pull them back in. He slowly turned his vision toward Magnus in the silence of the room with a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. Magnus had daggers in his eyes, and the utensils in his hands were held in tight, white-knuckled fists. 

“Excuse me?”

“Magnus, I-”

Magnus loudly skid the chair he was in backwards as he stood, slamming his fork and knife onto the table as he stepped closer to Barry. Almost immediately Lup and Merle had a hand on Magnus, and Barry was out of his seat as well, carefully moving around the table away from him. “H-Hey-” Barry tried again, “Hey! What the hell are you doing?”

“What the hell am  _ I  _ doing? I don’t know what the FUCK is up with you lately, but you need to shut the hell up.” Magnus growled, ripping the hands off of his arms. 

“Well damn, Mags, you’re not on your best behavior either.” Merle grumbled, brushing off his arms.

“Oh, you’re one to talk, Merle.” Lup hissed.

Davenport was watching this come together from beside the stove, where pancakes were burning. Lup and Merle were at each other, Magnus and Barry were close to hurting each other, and Lucretia and Taako were both, by different definitions of the word, comatose. By examining his friends, the people he’s put his life on the line for for the past twenty-seven years, he had a realization. Suddenly, he scrambled for the table, climbing onto it and standing up with his hands outstretched, “STOP! STOP IT!”

The four paused mid argument, all with puzzled looks as of why their captain was standing on their kitchen table with an almost manic expression.

“B-Bonds!”

“What?” Magnus squinted at him.

“The fucking-” He shook his head and waved his arms, “I just- Okay. Listen to me.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “We’ve been on this ship together for nearly  _ thirty years _ . We’ve known each other before our first day out, so we’ve been all acquainted for quite some time here. I don’t know what’s going on on this planet, but it’s fucking with us big time. Our entire journey is made possible by this ship we’re all standing in, and this ship is powered by the bonds around us. We can’t forget that. We can’t forget the bonds between ourselves, either.” He grumbled, looking around at his guilty party. “The bonds we have with each other is the strongest thing we have right now. We can’t let some fucked up planet change that.” He turned to Lup, “You don’t really think Merle- Or any of us would do anything to hurt Taako, do you? Especially after what he did for Magnus?”

Lup sniffed and looked away with arms crossed, a frown on her face. “No.”

“No, of course not. And this is far past magic, because Magnus- You’d never hurt Barry, right? Barry?”

Magnus unclenched his fists and fell back into his chair with his face in his hand, “No- No I would never.” This let Barry have a moment of relief to sit back into his chair, mimicking Magnus’ gesture.

“And I- I don’t know why I said that. I don’t.” Lup moved to Barry’s side, setting a hesitant hand on his shoulder.

“We all trust each other- We have to. There’s no ulterior motive, and as much as we think there might be, remember who we are. It’s not us.” He let out a small sigh and straightened his jacket while he pushed a plate that was dangerously close to his foot away with the toe of his boot. “Now, as your Captain, I’m issuing a command of the four of you.” He fought back a grin at their quizzical looks. “Hug.”

“Jesus Christ, Dav.”

“Magnus Burnsides you hug our head science officer, that is a  _ direct _ order.” Davenport turned an eye on Lup, who was silently leaving the room. “CHALUPA!”

Lup’s ears, visible from the back were a bright shade of crimson and she stopped in her tracks. “Oh, Captain?” She grumbled through her teeth.

“Hug the dwarf.” 

Lup threw her head backward with a long dramatic groan, but knew she was going to have to eventually, so she turned on her heel back toward the group. Merle was waiting for her with a sly smile and held out arms, hands making grabbing motions. “C’mon, you know you want it.” 

Lup rolled her eyes and knelt down to give him a tight hug. During this, Magnus and Barry exchanged uncomfortable looks. They knew they were friends, but with the past few days under their belts, a hug was the last thing either of them wanted. Davenport watched them intently as they fumbled into an awkward hug. It didn’t take the four long to find comfort in each other- Everything Davenport had said was true, these people were the only people they could really trust, and a single planet in a single year in a journey that could last God knows how much longer wasn’t going to stop that. Barry began blubbering apologies loud enough for Merle and Lup to hear, encouraging them to join Magnus and Barry’s hug, them all flooding their own apologies into the mix. Magnus turned an eye to Davenport who was standing proudly on the table, and reached a hand out and pulled him into the mix as well. 

“I wish Taako were here.” Lup mumbled into Barry, who put an unsteady hand through her hair.

As if on cue, a harrowing scream echoed throughout the starblaster, drowning out any and all silence. Lup jumped from the hug and was sprinting out of the room with pinpoint accuracy as she took each turn. Barry rushed to turn off the stove and followed at a brisk pace with the rest to the med bay.

 

Taako’s eyes were locked open and his lungs felt like they were at half capacity, far too little to handle his hyperventilating. Every passing second caused another throbbing stab of pain to slice through his chest, then triggering the pain from the tube sticking out of his ribs- Oh, fuck, there was a tube sticking out of his ribs. Why was there a tube sticking out of his ribs. Every short and fast breath felt like sandpaper in his lungs, the scream that bursted out of him not helping him at all. Where was everyone? How long had he been out? Did they die? Was he the last one left? Was he going to have to steer them home after all of this, alone? Panicked thoughts raced through his head as his heart rate spiked and the rhythm of pain turned into a steady flow. 

“TAAKO!” A familiar voice filled the room while he held his hands in tight fists and clenched his jaw tight.

Merle was quick to his side to hook him up with more morphine. “Christ, you idiot! You’re gonna tear yourself open!”

Not the calming words he needed to hear. Tear himself open? What the fuck? Lup punched Merle in the shoulder and put her hands on Taako’s face carefully, “We’re here, Takis, we’re right here, you’re okay. You got hit, but we patched you up, don’t mess up the handiwork, okay?”

The rush of drugs and his sister’s calming words began bringing him down from his panic.

“I g-g-g- I got-...” He nodded with a dry swallow, taking one of Lup’s hands into his own. “Can’t- Breathe good.” He wheezed shakily, taking a shy breath. He let his eyes look around the room at the concerned faces all staring down at him- God, couldn’t they leave him alone. He was fine. He couldn’t say it, because there was a hole in his lung, but of course he was fine. He waved a trembling hand at them, “T-Tak’s good.” He coughed, looking back to his sister.

“What is it, bud?”

“Tube.” He croaked, shutting his eyes. “I have a tube.”

“Your lung blew up, yea you have a tube.” 

“Gross.” 

“Yeah,” Lup laughed carefully, “you are. Fuckin’ nasty.” 

Taako set a hand onto her face, “Are you okay, Lulu?” He whispered to her, thumb brushing against her face. She smiled with a nod.

“Of course I’m okay, you’re the one who got shot, idiot.” 

“And- Magnus? Fuck- Is-” He was cut off by a pained cough while Lup shushed him. 

“He’s fine, doofus, you took the hit. Everyone’s fine.”

“Now that you’re up, Taako, I was thinkin’ you might not need that damn tube, you’re healin’ up nice with my handiwork.” Merle grinned, kneeling by the tube to look it over.

“You gonna make it, bud?” Magnus asked, looking him over. Taako put up a feeble gesture, but with as much emotion as he could; his middle finger.

“I lived, bitch.”

Magnus returned his comforting expression with a simple ‘ok’ with his fingers. 

Everything seemed like it was falling into place again. Davenport piped up, “Oh! We should wake up Lucretia, she’d want to know Taako is okay.” He gave Taako a small wave before heading out of the room. 

He knocked lightly on Lucretia’s door, “Lucretia? Taako’s back with us.”

No response.

Davenport furrowed his brow, carefully opening the door, “Lu? You in here?” 

The room was, once again, vacant of Lucretia. He let out a long sigh, rubbing the back of his neck, “Jeez…” A note beside her bed caught his attention before he got the chance to turn out of the room. He shuffled toward it and opened it, shutting his eyes with a groan before he could get halfway through.   
“God damn it, Lucretia.” He folded the letter in his hand, turning out to inform the rest of his crew of their newly absent member.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bye lucretia


	6. There's Something in the Foliage

“I couldn’t sleep (Sorry Barry!), I have to check the woods. I’ll be right back!

-Lucretia”

 

“Well, a timestamp would’ve been appreciated.” Barry speculated, his hand in a fist over his mouth. “Although, if Lup was up and making breakfast before eight, and I saw her around five-thirty… Ish… and it’s what? Nine? She can’t have been out for more than maybe three hours.”

“Nice sleuth work, brainiac, any idea where she is?” Merle groaned.

“It’s not like she’s a child guys, she knows what she’s doing.” Barry frowned.

“We all know Lu can take care of herself.” Lup commented, sitting beside Taako on his bed. While Davenport had done a sweep of the ship, Merle made handiwork of Taako’s medical situation, and he was sealed back up with the tube removed with a small bowl of soup to eat. “Don’t forget how we were all ready to rip each other’s shit like an hour ago. I’m worried about how she’s holding up. And what if she runs into that stupid shitty human family again? No offense.” She nods to Magnus and Barry who make similar expressions of lukewarm displeasure back at her. 

“Maybe she’ll put that stupid kid in his place.” Taako grumbled, sipping broth from his spoon.

“Maybe,” Magnus began as he brushed himself off and stood from the chair he was parked in, “this is our call to start actually doing shit. I know Merle was going about it the wrong way earlier, but he wasn’t wrong about needing to find the light and figure out what’s going on on this planet.” 

Lup let out a begrudging sigh and nodded, refusing to look at Merle’s smirk that he was radiating with. “Taako’s not well enough to go, so I’m staying with him. You guys should go find Lucretia and see what you can find on the ground before we go anywhere else.”

“Oh please, honey, I’m fine.” Taako nodded while his voice came out in croaks, waving her away with a loose wrist. “Look at me.”

“I am looking at you. You’re willingly drinking canned broth, sweetheart. It’s not a good look.” Lup said with a perked eyebrow, staring him down. Taako kept his gaze down, quietly eating more of the soup. 

“You need anythin’ else before we head out, Taako?” Merle asked, giving him a quick look-over.

“I know where the drugs are, I’ll keep him happy.” Lup grins, winking at Taako who returned the gesture. 

“Well don’t just give him drugs to give him-“ Merle was cut off by Davenport hooking his arm around his to pull him away, raising a hand as he walked out of the room. “Call us if anything comes up.”

“Back at you, Casanova.” Taako smirked, resulting in a fiery glare back at him from Davenport. “Get some fucking sleep.” He growled back. Barry gave him a quick wave with a passing promise of checking in after they find their chronicler. Magnus stayed behind, rubbing the back of his neck as he approached the bed.

“Oh Christ, Magnus,” Taako coughed, wrinkling his nose at his guilt-ridden expression, “do NOT look at me like that.”

“Taako-”

“Stop. Don’t fucking do it.”

“Thank you. You didn’t need to do that.”

Taako half groaned, half laughed, “Natch, you’re welcome, obviously. But honey, as much as I would love to take credit for the bold idea to take a bullet for you, it wasn’t exactly how I wanted that whole brouhaha to situate itself.” He waved his hand to dismiss him, “Go find that nerd, I have to talk to my kin.” 

Magnus laughed at him and gave him a small wave as he followed the other three out the door. Taako turned his attention to his sister with a deep groan, taking a moment to drink some of the soup.

“How’re you feeling there, kid?”

He groaned again, “Besides the gaping hole in my chest? I had a gross dream. I know talking about dreams is, like, the most boring thing in the universe, but you were in it.” Lup’s attention was peaked, and he continued. “You remember the first time I transmuted in that field with the cake?”

Lup squinted for a moment in thought. “Oh, you mean the time you almost killed us with that ‘wine’.” She stated, making quotation gestures with her hands.

“Can we legit not bring that up again, can we not fight about that? I can not tell you about my weird dream.” 

“No, no, go on. I’m interested.”

Taako sighed, but continued. “It was that whole morning, but-... Everything vanished, and it felt really wrong. You were still there, but you were facing away from me and you looked-”

“Inhuman?” Lup interrupted, her expression uncomfortable.

Taako furrowed his brow, “Yeah- Did you…? You didn’t have the same dream, did you?”

“No, not the same dream. But same idea, I guess. We were running from a group of carnies we robbed, and you were the same way. Facing away from me and looking like a- Like a doll, maybe?” She shook her head with a shrug. “I asked Barry, he didn’t know what the fuck I was talking about.”

“More twin shit?” Taako suggested, eating more soup.

“Mmm, I dunno. Last time we thought that the whole crew went down… Think we should tell them?”

Taako thought for a moment, letting the mostly empty bowl of soup warm his hands for a moment with a hum. “Maybe we keep this one to ourselves for a bit, Lu. Unless it happens to someone else too.” 

Lup nods. She tucked a lock of Taako’s hair behind his ear with a sigh. “Can you not get fatally wounded on a planet where we can’t help you again, for at least a month?”

Taako laughed with a wince. “I’ll do my best.”

  
  


Magnus, Barry, Merle, and Davenport walked together with their eyes peeled out of the Starblaster.   
“Should we split up?” Merle asked, scratching his head.

“Not all four of us, unless you’re planning on getting completely lost. We can group off, though.” Davenport noted, looking between them.

“Merle and I can go left, Barry and Davenport go right. We’ll meet back in, what, an hour?” Magnus said, putting a hand on Merle’s shoulder.

Davenport sighed shortly with a nod. “Sounds good.” He waved Barry to follow him and they started off in the opposite direction of the other two. 

The woods were dense, but had natural pathways in the dirt amongst the trees. Familiar bird calls echoed quietly throughout the forest, but unfamiliar scuffling followed as well. Barry’s glaive was tight in his fists, and Davenport’s crossbow was cautiously cradled in his arm. The plant life around them was… Different. Barry speculated that Merle would have some insight on the plants when they met up again, but Davenport took time to inspect the greenery as well. Not all, but most of the leaves were rounded and curved in odd shapes, along with vibrant, primary colored flowers. They trekked on. 

“What happened with you and Lucretia this morning?” Davenport asked after a while of silence between the two, pushing aside a vine as they walked.

“I woke up to the sound of something breaking and she seemed manic, going around the kitchen with papers and notes. I think we’re all reacting to this place differently, and she’s taking it in a nervous way.” Barry frowned as he followed in Davenport’s trail. “She was worried.”

“We’re all worried.” Davenport replied, looking over his shoulder at him. “But you were right, she’s not a child. As much as I’m worried for her, I also know that she’s not stupid and wouldn’t get herself hurt.”

“I know that, we all do. I just want her back with us. She’s bound to be exhausted, I can’t imagine she’s having a good time out here, it’s wet and muggy and, frankly, easy to get lost in.”

“I just hope she’s okay; we don’t know what’s out here. I wish we could just…” Davenport snapped his fingers, “Find her with a spell. This is ridiculous.” 

“Yeah,” Barry sighed. He looked up through the high treetops, watching the birds fly overhead. “I guess we- W- Davenport?” Barry blinked- He was gone. It took him a moment to register the disappearance and he suddenly jerked into a more formidable pose. “Davenport?!”

“BARRY!” 

Barry quickly spotted a speck of ginger being tugged quickly through the grass, scrambling feebly at the ground in a panic. “BARRY!” 

Barry ran, he sprinted after his captain with his weapon tightly encased in his grip. He slowly but surely caught up to it to see a vine had snared itself around Davenport’s ankle and was pulling him to god knows where. He felt his chest begin to tighten with every breath and decided to take a chance. Davenport’s eyes widened as he watched Barry raise the glaive in the air, letting out a pleading shout before curling with his arms over his head to the best of his ability while Barry launched the sharp object at the thick vine. 

He missed. 

Barry let out a shout of anguish as he felt himself unable to maintain his speed and the vine begin to move out of reach.

“FUCK!”

Davenport watched with wide eyes as his friend began to fall behind He grabbed at the earth and mud as he was pulled away, the last thing he saw being Barry being knocked backward by something. He scrambled with sharp breaths to gather his crossbow in his arms while his body was assaulted by the roots and rocks he was being dragged through. He aimed the crossbow at the vine around his ankle and fired, the arrowhead plunging deep into it. It spasmed, but refused to let go. He struggled to put another arrow into the crossbow as the vine turned a sharp left corner and threw him into a tree, forcing the weapon out of his hand.

“Fuck- Fuck- Fuck-” He stuttered, fumbling for his quiver, thankfully containing a single arrow as the others had been lost to the woods. He took it in an unsteady hand and began stabbing at the body around his ankle He could barely cut through the outer layer and it seemed to get tighter around him the more he worked at it. Tears began to well in his eyes as the rocks and roots abused his body and his efforts felt useless. It began to let loose, and he stabbed in a panic without direction, cutting and jabbing as fast as he could. He accidentally drove the arrowhead into his own leg and let out a pained cry, followed by a scream of horror as the end of the vine made its way into his wound. He cut faster with no result, then threw the arrow aside and grabbed the vine in attempt to pull it out of his wound, “G-GET OUT OF ME!” He reached for the arrow already lodged into the vine and dragged it upwards, creating a large gash through the green. Eventually, it let loose enough for him to kick it off with his free foot. The vine pulled away and continued throughout the trees out of sight. He heaved with a trembling body, letting himself rest on his hands and knees for a moment.

“Barry!” He croaked, hoping he wasn’t too far lost to be found. His right leg was red, throbbing, bleeding, but not broken. He did a quick assessment of himself- Nothing broken, plenty of bruises, very muddy. He put a hand to his cheek to feel wetness and examined the blood on his fingers- Probably cut himself while he was being tossed around like a rag doll. He slowly sat up and brushed himself off. He pulled his cloak off his back and used his teeth to rip a strip of fabric off of it and used it to tie a tight knot over and above the wound. He shakily stood, each step sending a shooting pain up through his knee. “Barry! Where are you?” He followed a path of shifted dirt from where he was dragged with a limp, taking note of his surroundings as he did. What the fuck was that? Given another circumstance, maybe he would’ve followed through, but he had no protection, and it had just knocked the shit out of him when he did have some. What kind of plant moves like that, anyway? He grumbled at the situation and picked up arrows when he found them, looking over his ripped uniform, along with all the cuts and scrapes he had acquired. 

“Barry?”

No response, “Lucretia?”

  
  


“Well, this is boring.” Merle sighed, hitting a branch out of his face, only for it to smack back at him.

“We’re looking for Lucy, so no, it isn’t boring. Keep an eye out.” Magnus insisted, his axe comfortably over his shoulder as he ducked under branches. 

“Yeah, I know that smartass. I just wish she was like… Right there!” He pointed to a small, empty clearing with a pointed and determined hand. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

Magnus sighed, putting his hand roughly onto Merle’s head and ruffling him up. “Stay focused.” 

They walked in silence for a long while, routinely kicking away rocks and cutting vines to make their way through the small footpaths between the trees.

“So… Lucy?” Merle asked, wiggling his brows at Magnus with a grin. Magnus made a face at him and shook his head. 

“You’re-” He shook his head. “No, dude.”

Merle elbowed him in the thigh a few times, “Huh? Huh?”

“Your head is up your ass, you know.” Magnus laughed, cutting a branch out of the way and calling out for Lucretia as he did.

“You and the Captain, however-” Magnus’ leg almost buckled out from under him after Merle lightly knocked him in the back of the knee with his hammer. Magnus laughed at him again and they continued together. Merle caught a glimpse of some small plants and crouched down beside them, examining the leaves in his fingers. “That’s odd.”

“What’s odd?” Magnus asked, crouching beside him.

“These plants- I’ve never seen anything like them. Look at this,” He put his thumb into the curved leaf and it gently curled around his finger. He watched it as it held weakly to his finger and he let out a small laugh before easily pulling his hand from its grip, “An’ they’re all curved like this, it’s real odd.” He was silenced by Magnus hitting him in the face repeatedly.

“Merle- Merle- Merle- Merle-”   
“What, WHAT, you baby?” Merle stood and froze at the sight. Every plant scattered around the forest floor had turned and was facing the two of them. Every leaf, every wildflower, every weed was somehow, without a face, looking at the two of them.

“This is like those nightmares when you show up at class naked.” Merle whispered, returning the hits back at him. The two smacked each other for a few moments before Magnus slapped him across the shoulder.

“They’re plants, Merle. They’re just plants. They can’t do anything, right?” 

Merle let out a small groan, “Well, plants are more capable than you’re givin’ ‘em credit for.”

At that, the ground began to move around them as a vine slithered towards them similar to that of a snake. Magnus immediately pulled his axe from his shoulder and came down on it, hard. It split in two and retreated, some of the plants turning their stems to watch it fall back. The two stood in silence for a moment before Magnus spoke up, “I bet there’s more.” 

“What if Lucretia’s hurt?” 

“What if Barry and Davenport are hurt?” Magnus replied, rubbing his face.

“At least we know for sure that Taako’s hurt.” Merle laughed as he continued forward. “Nothin’s allowed to be easy, huh?”

They exchanged agitated sighs as they walked together, keeping their eyes on the agriculture around them. Magnus gripped his axe tight at the sound of another rustle in the grass, Merle doing the same with his hammer. 

“What the hell is that?” Merle whispered. The two were back to back, waiting for something to emerge with weapons ready. Bushes rustled as something came toward the two of them, and Merle raised his hammer high in the air and swung downward at the same time as this creature emerged.

A small fox. 

Magnus hit his axe against Merle’s hammer, causing it to veer to the left of the target and send the fox running back into the bushes with a squeal.

“C’mon, Merle!” 

Merle veered around to face Magnus, “This is a high-stress situation, asshole! Neither of us knew!” Before Magnus could open his mouth to snap back, Merle raised his hand with a furrowed brow, “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“It was like a-” Suddenly, Merle threw his hands in the air with a scream as he was yanked sharply forward by his ankle, dragged right between Magnus’ legs. “Woah- Woa- HELP me ASSHOLE!” 

Magnus ran towards him and grabbed onto Merle’s hammer, his face going directly into the mud as he got dragged on after Merle. Magnus brought his head up before it could be slammed into a bulging root, but the two let out groans as it beat their bodies after being dragged over it.

“Maybe it’ll lead us to somethin’!” Merle called out before letting out a sharp shout from a rock beneath him.

“I- I don’t think we can wait that long!” Magnus carefully adjusted his hand on his axe, lifting it up unsteadily to swing at the vine.

“N-Now wait just a minute,” Merle pleaded, wiggling his foot in attempt to get the vine off, only for it to twist tighter up his leg. Another root dragged beneath them and threw Magnus’ swing off target, plunging deep into the dirt and jerking out of his hand. The two exchanged looks of distress before the vine turned sharply right and threw Magnus off of Merle’s hammer, rolling him sideways from the momentum.

“Wait! WAIT!” Magnus called out as he scrambled to his knees, hissing at the pain coming from his exposed chest. 

Merle watched behind him in horror as Magnus vanished from sight, finally looking forward again. His eyes widened as the sight of an oncoming wall of stone creeped closer with no sign of slowing down. He made an attempt of sitting up to pull the hammer down on the vine away from his foot, only to be thrown backward. “Hell, don’t make me do this.” He pleaded to himself, making a second attempt, and a third attempt, all ending in him thrown back into the hard packed dirt of the forest floor. His mind began to race- What was there to do? The wall was nearly beside him, he couldn’t sit up to swing the hammer without hitting himself, and if he didn’t do anything, the impact against the wall could hurt him more than anything else. He swallowed hard and cursed under his breath with a small prayer, “Pan, please, don’t let me do this in vain?” He grit his teeth and pulled the hammer up, then back down, directly onto his leg. 

Merle let out a ghastly wail as the hammer broke through both bones in his shin,the vine holding on still. The scream echoed throughout the forest, reaching all ears of the forest.

The wall dragged closer to Merle and the fractured bones in his leg were spiking through his skin leaving blood to pool in his boot. Somehow, in a mulated usage of the term, it was beneficial to his situation. The blood gave the leather boot he was wearing enough lubrication to slip off his foot with the vine in tow before it could tighten around the now pliable leg. The vine grasped the boot tightly and slithered quickly under the stone, emitting a revolting noise of leather ripping as the boot was pulled under the wall. Merle slowly but surely bumped into it with his hands shaking horribly as he cradled his leg. The pain was blinding, but he watched his boot vanish violently under the wall, and the thought of that being him was sickening.

A series of footsteps made their way through the forest- the first to reach him was Davenport, who’s complexion faded to white as he saw Merle. He limped quickly to him and put a hand on his shoulder, “God, Merle, what happened?”

“Vine-” He wheezed, “Vine got me-”

Davenport glanced at his bandaged leg, and back to Merle’s, swallowing hard. “Th- The vine did that?”

Merle shook his head with a heave, then pointed to himself. Davenport cupped a hand over his mouth and sat up straight, looking around. “BARRY! MAGNUS! L- LUCRETIA?!” His eyes landed on the crack under the wall, and the mess of blood that the boot had left behind in its wake. He felt nauseous 

More footsteps approached. Magnus slid on his knees through the mud towards the two, making a double-take on Davenport. He was covered head to toe in dirt in mud, as Magnus and Merle were. “Big vine?”

Davenport nodded and motioned to his swollen and bleeding leg. “Not nearly as bad off as Merle, we need to get him back to the ship, he’s losing blood…  _ We’re _ losing blood.”

Magnus let out a small groan, “I wish I’d stop hearing that.” He mumbled, picking up Merle carefully as to not hurt him more. He brushed away plants that seemed to stick to him through the mud and glanced around the area, “Where’s Barry?”

Davenport stood with a wince, “I- I don’t know, I lost him when I got dragged off, he couldn’t keep up, I saw him fall, I don’t know what happened.”

Magnus sighed and picked up Davenport and held him over his shoulder. “We need to get out of here.” He stated and began walking back at a brisk pace, wanting nothing more than to just get the hell out of the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS NOT PORN!!! ITS NOT PORN!!! DONT @ ME IM PURE !!! also im graduating on friday and have a Lot of senior stuff im working on this upcoming week so like..... crossing my fingers that i get chapter seven & eight done in time because I have a lot planned for them but timing is just balls currently with senior events & parties . might post oneshots but who knows! enjoy bastards


	7. Do you believe in monsters?

The plants rooted deeply into the ground were still, only moved by a slight breeze moving through the trees. Some, however, began to turn as the sound of footsteps grew closer. A pair of shoes appeared, crushing a few of the plants as a curious figure crouched down to observe these strange organisms. Her inquisitive hand reached down and simply plucked the plant by the stem from the dirt and held it close to her eye, smiling brightly at it.

“These are- These are so interesting.” Lucretia beamed to herself as she stuck the plant into a small plastic bag full of different plants and vibrantly colored flowers and and set it into a satchel at her hip. Merle would be so excited to see these strange plants, she thought to herself with a sigh. A yawn overtook her- She should’ve had some sleep last night, but the morning in the fresh air was something she definitely needed. Her head felt clear, and being able to see all of the life around her on the planet thrive was an exciting experience. “I hope the boys aren’t worried about me.” She sighed, and rubbed her eyes as she stood and stretched. She began a walk back in the direction she came from, one of her hands gripped on her satchel and the other on her quarterstaff, a smile lingering on her face. The sounds of birds chirping, the serenity of the woods, and the quiet rustling of the leaves beneath her was soothing and similar to home. However, the rustling seemed to grow louder, and closer. Lucretia furrowed her brow and turned to investigate the area where the rustling originated. She slowly stepped backward, ready to strike when the creature emerged. Lucretia had her staff in the air to swing, but her eyes widened at the sight of the small human boy turning a corner around a tree into her sight, instinctively raising his hands over his head at the sight of the raised staff.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” 

Lucretia held the staff tight over her shoulder, eyeing the little boy down. She carefully began to lower the staff, her exhausted mind beginning to process the face of the boy.

“You… You’re the little boy that shot Taako.” 

The moment her accusation left her mouth, the little boy’s eyes filled with tears and he let out a cry. Before Lucretia could even lower her staff, he let out choked words.

“I’M S- S- S- SORRY!” He began to weep, and his face fell into his hands as he shook terribly in the middle of the clearing. Lucretia stared at him for a moment before setting down the staff and carefully approaching him. “I- It’s okay, little one.” She mumbled- How did  _ she _ get caught up in this situation? Where was Magnus when she needed him? “Don’t cry, I- um…” Her hand hovered over the boy for a moment before she pat his shoulder awkwardly. “I’m- Hey, don’t cry, okay?” She whispered, her tone becoming more comfortable with the situation. “I’m Lucretia, what’s your name?”

The boy took a moment to look back up at her through his swollen, red eyes. “I- I’m Thomas. I’m-” He fell back into sobs again, apologies rampant through his tears. He pulled her from her hand into a hug, and Lucretia fell into it, patting his back and praying she would figure out what to say to stop him. 

“It’s okay, I think, don’t worry.”

“Did- Did I- I didn’t- I didn’t mean- Did I Ki- Is he-”

Lucretia held him out at arm's length, shaking her head. “No- No, Taako is doing okay. We got him just in time, he’s sleeping now, though. He’s going to be just fine.” 

Thomas nodded with a long, shaken sigh. “Oh- Oh- Okay…” He wiped his face on his sleeves and began to cry again. Lucretia rubbed the boy’s arms and did what she did best- Study. He was standing on worn shoes, feet inturned. His pants were dirty and torn at the knees and by the ankles. His shirt was far too thin to be keeping him warm, and again, dirty as the rest of his clothes. His hair was in shambles and he was gripping his left arm tight. Judging by his height and his reaction to the situation, he really couldn’t be older than maybe twelve years old. He was shaking from tears, but he was chilly to the touch as well. The ship had been moved far from his home, so-

“Did you come here all by yourself?” Lucretia asked, brushing some of his hair out of his face, “Is you father with you? Your mother? A sibling?”

Thomas shook his head, wiping his face again. “I- I rode the- The p-pony, but she g- But she got tired.” he nodded. “Just me and Oaty.” 

Lucretia unclipped her robe and put it over his shoulders. “Why did you come all this way, Thomas?”

“I f- I didn’t m- I didn’t mean to shoot h-h-him.” He snivelled, finally meeting her eyes. He was heartbroken. His hands were tightly wrung together and tears were streaming down his face with no intent on stopping. “I- I wan- I needed to ap-apologize.” He whispered, wiping his eyes desperately.

Lucretia frowned. “Where is Oaty, Thomas?”

Thomas brushed off his shirt and turned to lead her back further into the forests. Lucretia stood and looked back toward the clearing that would lead her to the ship, bringing the scenery to memory. Either she would have to bring him home, or bring him to the ship. She shook her head as she grabbed her staff again and began to follow the boy- Bringing him back to the ship would be doable, as long as she kept him from Taako. Lup might be able to handle him being around, as he’s in horrible condition just to be there to apologize, but Taako… Taako wouldn’t forgive. She wasn’t sure if the other boys would either, but she knew as a fact that Taako would not be game.

“Do you parents know that you’re gone?” Lucretia asked, keeping close to the boy. Who knows what else could be in the forests with them.

“No…” He mumbled to himself. He grabbed the robe and pulled it tighter over his shoulders. He opened his mouth as if he were to speak again, but kept quiet and silently lead them onward. Lucretia kept an eye out as they walked, but also kept a close eye on Thomas as well. The woods were crooked and weaving with footpaths that tripped up Lucretia, but Thomas navigated with ease. 

“Why- How come you’re out in the woods, Lucretia?” Thomas asked, flashing her a look behind him as he continued forward. His father’s eyes were intense and blue, but his were soft and brown. 

“Oh- Well, I was examining the plant life.” Lucretia nodded, letting her fingers drag across the tree she passed as she walked.

Thomas furrowed his brow at her gesture, turning back forward and continuing. “That’s weird.”

“I’m not from around here. None of us are.”

“You guys look like you aren’t.” He mumbled, casting her a small glance over his shoulder before turning forward again. Before Lucretia could speak, Thomas lead her around a corner toward a young horse, tied against a tree that began stomping her hooves when she spotted the two of them in turn. Thomas took off Lucretia’s robe and handed it back to her before jogging to his horse. “I’m right here Oaty.” He stroked her mane and she calmed, huffing and neighing. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.” Thomas spoke again with a sniff, directed at Lucretia.

Lucretia waved her hand, “You’re right, we’re an odd looking group if you’ve never seen elves and dwarves… Would you like to come back to our ship with me? Or would you like me to go back with you to bring you home? I’m sure your family is worried sick about you.”

Thomas made a bit of a face and turned his head back further into the woods, wringing his hands. He turned back toward Lucretia and ruffled his hair, “Well- Uhm…”

The moment Thomas shot Taako played through her head again. 

Magnus spoke the most, but he was calm. Taako might have made some kind of remark about the situation, but nothing violent or too serious. Maybe Merle made a joke, maybe Barry spoke too dry, but none of them gave any real reason to be considered threats. No one was threatening other than the man with blue eyes. Every time they spoke, he was steady, every time the man shouted, his grip shook and he tensed up. He wasn’t afraid of Lucretia, he pulled her into a hug just now. He wasn’t afraid of the ship, he was throwing rocks at it nearly the second they landed. He was scared of the man with blue eyes.

“You can come back with me and we can get you cleaned up, alright? I’ll talk with everyone else and introduce you.” Lucretia nodded, moving over to him and the horse to untie her and lead them back. 

A look of relief fell onto Thomas’ face as he sheepishly followed her. “We shouldn’t be in- We shouldn’t be in the woods this long. Papa says its dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” Lucretia asked, the horse and the boy in tow. The boy shrugged and continued beside her, one hand on Oaty.

“He always said to be careful in the forest. He says it has monsters.”

Lucretia’s jaw locked shut. “Did he?” She mumbled, “Let’s walk fast then, okay?” Thomas nodded at her request, the three quickening their pace. “What else did he say about the forest?”

“He said that- He said that we need to stay close to the house, and not go far into the woods… I come in here anyway.” He whispered with a hidden smile.

“Well, maybe you should be more careful. If he’s right, and there is a monster-”

“I’m not afraid of any monsters. Monsters aren’t real.” He nodded, looking up at her. “I’m twelve, I’m not dumb.”

Lucretia bit her lip. “Well-... Okay, maybe you’re right.” 

Thomas tilted his head at her, studying her composer similarly to how she studied his. “Do you believe in monsters, Lucretia?”

Lucretia looked down at him, stepping over a vine across the forest floor. “Sometimes I think that I do, Thomas.”

“Are there monsters where you come from?”

She sighed, pulling a loose piece of hair behind her hair. “Yes. There are a lot of monsters where I come from.”

“Oh,” he started, looking around the forest, “cool.” 

The two walked in silence beside each other with caution in each step. If the boy’s father was telling the truth, and there was some sort of monster, or some sort of creature within the woods, hopefully the rest of the crew hadn’t gone into the forest. But… Lucretia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Of course they would have gone into the forest- They’re probably deeper into the forest than she is now. She should’ve left a different note- Or not left a note at all. They could all be tangled up in some complete mess, they could be hurt, or missing, or-

“Are you okay?” Thomas asked, tugging on her sleeve. Lucretia’s face was twisted with worry and her hands were tight and white-knuckled.

“Oh- Oh, I’m fine. Just tired, and a little worried for my friends.” She gave him a smile with a nod. “They’re a little… Too adventurous sometimes.”

“Oh. I hope they’re okay.” He said with a frown, looking as if he would begin crying again.

“Me too. But I’m sure they’re fine. They’re big and strong.” Lucretia nodded with a sigh, rubbing her eyes with a suppressed yawn. 

“Where did you guys come from?”

“You ask a lot of questions, little one.”

“You flew onto our farm in a spaceship.”

Lucretia locked eyes with him for a moment with wide eyes. Maybe he did deserve some kind of explanation. “Well, we’re from a different planet. A whole different plane, really.”

“Like aliens?” Thomas gasped, 

“Yes, like aliens.” She nodded with a small smile. She lifted a branch for the three of them to walk under as she spoke, “We’re on a big mission. We’re trying to get back to our first home planet, our first planet. We didn’t mean to go so far, but we did. This is our twenty-seventh year on this mission.”

“What!?” Thomas stopped to look at Lucretia, “How old are you?”

This made Lucretia think. How old  _ was _ she? “I’m-... I’m around sixty years old, I think.” 

“WHAT!? You look like you’re as old as my sister, and she’s only twenty-four.” Thomas looked up at her, taking another look at her. “Wow… You’re older than mama and papa.” 

Lucretia laughed lightly, “Well, every year we get put right back at the start, so I still look like I’m young, just like everyone else.” She could see the light coming from the clearing now, they were nearly there.

“What’s everyone else’s names? I know you’re Lucretia, and- and Taako.” He frowned again.

“The big man with the beard that was talking is named Magnus, he’s our weapons guy.” She smiled, “The man with glasses and short hair is Barry, he’s our head scientist. You know who Taako is, who is still stable, like I said. The other elf- The ah, the girl with the blond hair and pointed ears is his twin sister, Lup, they’re both our chefs and our arcanists. The small man with white hair in a braid is Merle, he’s our medic and our head biologist. The short man with red hair is Davenport. He’s our captain. And we’ve met; I’m our chronicler, I write down everything that happens.”

“Are you gonna write about me?”

Lucretia smiled down at him as she pushed past the final bushes into the clearing. “Of course I’m going to. You’re an interesting little boy, Thomas.” The two walked together while Thomas examined the back of the Starblaster. The ship was elegant and sleek, spotless metal coating the entirety of the machine. He looked at it with wide eyes and his mouth agape, his interest and curiosity far from satisfied from his first interaction with the ship. He reluctantly followed after Lucretia who continued around the ship to the open gate with a furrowed brow. “I didn’t leave this open…” She turned around to look into the opening into the forest across from where they exited. She groaned lightly and handed Oaty’s reins to Thomas, “I’ll be right back, okay?” She said, setting a hand on his shoulder. Thomas nodded and held the ropes tight in his hands. Lucretia squeezed his shoulder in her hand before turning into the ship.

“Magnus? Lup? Barry? Anyone still in here?” Lucretia looked around the vacant ship briefly before heading toward a control panel against the way and starting an intercom into the control room. “It’s Lucretia; is anyone on deck?” She waited for a response with a groan before a buzz rang through from the med bay.

“Lucretia?” Lup’s voice cracked through.

“Lup? I’ll be down there in two seconds.” She yelled back, her legs already starting out of the room while her hand lingered on the intercom. She jogged through the halls of the ship until she reached the double doors and pulled them open.

“Lup, I-” She blinked at the sight of Taako propped up by Heaven knows how many pillows with a pink lemonade in his free hand, his other hand, despite his arm being tightly in a sling against his body, was held tenderly by Lup as she painted his nails (Purple, Lucretia noticed). She stared at him while he stared back, Lup looking between the two of them.

“Oh! Babe, I’m alive again. Hi!” He said with a slight wave of his fingers around his lemonade before taking a sip through the comically long straw. 

Lucretia took the satchel off and set it on the floor beside the door as she moved toward Taako with a relieved sigh, mumbling thanks as she moved to kiss him on the forehead. “How are you doing?”

“Besides the hole? So-so. This lemonade could be better.”

“Oh, please, you wouldn’t know a good lemonade if you-”

Lucretia cleared her throat, “Ah, where’s everyone else?”

The twins exchanged glances, “You’re not with them? The guys went out to find you.”

Lucretia furrowed her brow and shook her head quickly, “No, no I came back without them. How long have they been gone?”

Lup let out a sigh, “Ah, fuck, a bit over an hour? Hour and a half?” 

“And you haven’t heard anything from them?” The two shook their heads. Lucretia ran her hand over her face and looked around the room in slight panic.

“Why? You think they’re in trouble?” Lup asked, setting Taako’s finished manicure down carefully and walked toward Lucretia, setting a hand on her shoulder, “You’re freaking me out, Lu, stop pacing.”

“They’re big and strong, Lucretia, I think they can handle themselves.” Taako said with another sip of his drink. 

“No, I know, but-...” Lucretia choked on her words. “Lup, could I talk to you for a moment? Alone?”

“What? Why?” Taako whined, trying to sit himself up more with a hiss. 

“I just don’t want to stress you out anymore than I have to. Lup?” Lucretia jerked her head to the side and waved her hand out of the room. Lup sighed and followed out, shutting the doors carefully behind them.

“What happened? Why did you leave?”

“I just- I was getting cabin fever, I don’t know.” Lucretia shook her head. “I have the boy with me.”

Lup raised her eyebrows at her. “You fucking kidnapped the kid? Damn Lucretia, I knew you were upset, but I didn’t take you for a-”

“No I didn’t kidnap him, Lup. Have some faith in me.” She sighed with an exasperated groan. “His name is Thomas. He followed the path of the ship after us and came to apologize.”

“Oh… Oh. Yeah, no. That won’t play out.” Lup shook her head.

“I know that, but that’s not all he told me. He said that there’s a rumor of some kind of monster in the forest.” Her voice lowered into a whisper. “I didn’t see anything, but I d- Those guys, if there is some kind of beast, they found it.”

“No doubt.” Lup turned around and poked her head into the med bay, locking eyes with her brother. “Hey, Takis, I’m gonna go find the rest of the fucking losers since we have Lucretia back.  _ Please _ just… Lay there. Don’t be theatrical.”

“Um, that’s fucking impossible and you know it, bitch.” 

Lup sighed and fell back out of the room, giving Lucretia a small nod as they jogged back out of the ship together. 

“Is the kid a little shitbag?”

“No, he’s actually sweet.”

“We are talking about the goblin that blasted a crater into my brother’s torso, right? Like that little bastard? We’re on the same page?”

“He was scared, Lup.” She clenched her jaw slightly, but continued nonetheless. They reached the hatch together and skipped down the stairs, Thomas waiting patiently right where Lucretia had left him. 

“Oh- H- Hi.” He said quietly, looking over the two tall women with the rein of his horse still tight in his grasp. Lup watched him intensely for a moment before turning toward the forest and continuing onward. Lucretia gave him a small wave before following behind Lup. They barely made it ten yards before their concerned jog turned into a horrified sprint when they spotted a bloodied figure reach the edge of the woods carrying two others. 

“FUCK!” Lup cried out, running to take Davenport out of Magnus’ grasp, “What the fuck happened to you guys?” Lucretia gasped at the men’s conditions, tossing her staff aside and catching up to Lup.

“Some fucking- Vines, in the forest, grabbed them. Merle’s leg is broken bad, Davenport isn’t too much better off. They’re both losing blood.” 

“Vines, what do you mean vines?” Lucretia began walking Magnus back to the ship, “Are you okay?”

“They fucking- Came out of nowhere. I’m fine, they didn’t come after me.” Magnus stopped, doubling back at Lup who was standing frozen with Davenport safely in her arms facing away from them, her eyes fixated on the forest. “Lup- We have to get them back to the ship, they’re  _ hurt _ .”

Lup turned around to face them slowly. Lup’s face was pale and horrified, her eyes wide but her brows tense. Davenport, on the other hand, had a hand over his face and his eyes open and panic-struck. Lup's voice broke through with calm sincerity. “Where’s Barry?”

Magnus felt his heart skip a beat and he jerked around to face the woods with Lup again. He didn’t forget Barry. He didn’t. He wasn’t back? Where was Barry?

“Where the fuck is Barry, Magnus?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DIDNT MEAN TO BE SO LATE WITH THIS IM SORRY ;;;;;;;;;;; And its so much of nothing also i am so sorry. i am so sorry. i die, i am sorry. However, ez update, i did graduate and i did have 90 tardies in my high school career which is impressive on my part and im proud of it. anyways oh fuck where's barry oops forgot to write about that dickhead better come up with some elaborate thought out plot point around him


	8. There's Still Something in the Foliage

“How the FUCK could you fucking forget Barry!?” The pain in Lup’s eyes were more than Magnus could handle. He had a bloody, broken dwarf that was barely conscious in his arms, a gnome that was in similar shape in Lup’s, and his own abused chest that was burning with pain. Some kind of monster nearly killed Merle and Davenport- Trekking further into the woods to find Barry wasn’t an option.

“Lup, you gotta understand-”

“Okay,  _ sweetheart _ , I get that you two have some kind of stupid fucking fight going on, but this is beyond- This is not fucking okay.”

“Wh-” Magnus scoffed, “You think I didn’t go back for him on purpose?” 

Lup’s eyes shot daggers into Magnus’. “Lu, come here.” Lucretia did as instructed and took Davenport in shaking arms while Lup turned to beeline back into the forest.

“LUP, DON’T!” Davenport howled, trying to reach back for her in vain. However, Lup let out a choked cry as Magnus’ arm crossed her stomach and picked her up.

“Lup, just WAIT a minute! You’ll get hurt just like they did!” Magnus attempted to calm her as she thrashed in his arm.

“We can’t just leave him! What happened to protecting each other?” 

“I’m protecting  _ you _ !” Magnus spun her in his arm so she was facing facing him. Lup’s eyes were wide as she was suddenly drowned in Magnus’ shadow; she was pulled against him and had to crane her neck to meet his high eyes. She stumbled for words, but clenched her jaw as she repeated them with determination.

“We can’t just leave hi-”

“I wasn’t planning on it.” Magnus growled. He watched her for a moment longer before releasing her from his grasp and looking back into the forest. 

“Lucretia and I can help Merle.” Davenport’s dry voice piped through. Lup and Magnus turned to him with furrowed brows. “You two find Barry, but we need to help Merle. Stop fighting, and bring us to the fucking ship. That’s an order.” 

Magnus and Lup turned back to each other with a small nod, but Lup didn’t follow after without giving the forest another once-over. She took in a deep breath, screaming Barry’s name into the wooded maze. With no response, she was tugged back toward the ship with the others with Thomas quietly in tow.

 

Lup’s voice rang loud and echoed throughout the winding pathways of the forest, awakening the dormant animals and instructing the birds to fly from their branches to shake the trees. Her voice, paired with the chirping through the air, the trembling of branches, the scampering of forest animals, was drowned out before it could reach the negligent ears of Barry Bluejeans. His body lay in the long grass and dirt of the forest floor, his eyes shut and his mouth still. A bruise was beginning to form on his forehead from the blow of a branch that had seemingly came out of nowhere directly into his head. His eyes fluttered with the slight breeze making its way over him through the plants, and sunbeams flashed through the leaves of the trees onto his face. However, it was not any of these factors that woke him from his state. His eyes squinted open to a throbbing headache and a weight on his stomach. He raised a hand to his forehead with a groan, that weight on his stomach seeming to punch him in the chest before scampering off, which he caught the tail-end of with a hiss as the rabbit vanished into the brush. He sat up with some struggle, brushing moss and dirt off of his clothes with a whimper as his headache was unrelenting. What the hell happened? Where was everyone? Oh, fuck, where was Davenport? He shot to his knees, looking around manically. How long had he been knocked out? A glimmer of light shone into the corner of his vision- A glimmer of light reflecting off the blade of his glaive. He stood and rushed toward it to retrieve it, holding it cautiously in his hands. “Davenport?” He called out with no response other than the chirping of birds overhead. Had they gotten out? Had they found Lucretia? A pit grew in his stomach. Did they leave him behind? Or were they hurt, and lost? It was harder to image that they had left him- He couldn’t have been out for long enough for them to have left without finding him. He grit his teeth and found the marks in the dirt where Davenport had been dragged and made his way down the path, each step mimicking the dizzying throb in his skull. 

The forest path traveled was silent and undisturbed beside the drag through the dirt, but this didn’t stop Barry from walking with his weapon ready to strike in his hand, his eyes not leaving the ground in case something were to move. “Davenport?” He called out rhythmically every few minutes of travel. His journey was turned uneasy after the slight smell of iron hit his nose and the sight of blood spattered across the contrasting vibrant green of the forest floor make his stomach flip. “Fuck.” He mumbled to himself as he turned his pace into a jog and followed after the trail of red. “Davenport? Merle?” He called out again, panic re-entering his system. He ducked under branches, swerved around rocks, and jumped over vines for what felt like hours to find a stone wall splattered with blood. Barry put his hand over his mouth at the scene- A small puddle of blood was soaking into the moss and dirt, bloodied Gnomish handprints scattered against the wall.

“F-Fuck-... What happened?” He whispered to himself as he eyed the wall with caution, his vision fixating on the hole in the wall by the base that was particularly bloodied. There was no way in hell anyone could fit through it, not even Davenport… Not unless there was more blood that he couldn’t see. His eyes turned to the long, thin glaive in his hand, considering it for a moment. “Mm. No. Definitely not. Don’t be an idiot.” He pushed moss into the hole with his boot, then, with little trouble, found an appropriately sized stone which he pushed into it to close it. He pressed the back of his free hand against his forehead as he assessed his surroundings. 

“Lucretia?” He shouted, with no response. “Magnus? Davenport?” He eyed the trail of blood again— No, it was a different trail of blood. They must have gotten out, he sighed heavily and began following it before stopping short as his heart skipped a beat. Or, they had been pulled away bleeding. He let out a wheeze- What the fuck was in the forest? At any moment a vine could reach out and pull him to his death, and the sheer speed alone would render him useless. Everything about the situation was anxiety inducing and it felt like it was manufactured to be his own fucking hell. His eyes were locked back onto the blocked off hole in the wall when he heard something move behind him and he froze entirely. Before he could say a word, a voice erupted from behind him with an unfamiliar, ghastly crow.

“Merle.”

Before his glaive spun around, his open hand did. The incantation for meteor storm repeated in his head like a broken record as he snapped around with a shout, a spell made impossible leaving him with nothing but an aching wrist and a rather large corvid staring at him with empty, beady eyes. He stared back with heaving breaths, slowly lowering his hand to the undisturbed bird. He brought his hand to his forehead with a shaken sigh. “You’re mimicking… You must’ve heard his name, huh?” He met eyes with the bird again which stared blankly back. “You wouldn’t happen to know what happened, would you?” He mumbled, almost expecting the bird to talk back. Maybe he hit his head harder than he thought. The words that escaped the corvid’s beak after sent an electric shock of fear down his spine.

“Run.”

“I- Excuse me?”

“Run. Run. Run. Run. Run.” The bird snapped its wings open to it’s full span and took into the sky, leaving Barry with its cryptic message. Barry’s hand held to his weapon tightly and he turned back to the wall behind him with a dry swallow. The ground shook suddenly beneath his shoes, just subtle enough for him to notice, and his feet began stepping backward without hesitation. The rock he had shoved into place slowly shifted out of place, along with three other patches of grass that each revealed vines; one soaked in red blood, one cut and mangled, the other two unscathed. Before he could get a breath in, he swiped at two in a row with the edge of his blade- He cut the end of the already mangled vine clean off, leading it to writhe and retract back into the wall, and got stuck halfway into the bloodied one. The other two came after his ankles and he did quick footwork to avoid their daggered shots at his feet, then plunging the tip of his glaive into one of them, attempting to drag it into the other beside it to stab them both through. However, his skill with the glaive was minimal, and it got at his ankle before he got the chance to stick it. He was dragged harshly onto his back and toward the wall. He braced himself with his free foot for impact when it dragged him to the wall to keep his foot away from the opening of the crack. His knee felt as if it were going to buckle his foot hit the wall, the pressure being much higher than he anticipated with a pained grunt. He struggled to keep himself away from the wall, quickly using the glaive to saw through the vine to release his foot. “Fuck- Please- Shit- GUYS!” He managed to get it to release his ankle and he quickly scrambled away from the wall, turning to face it with fury and determination to keep himself alive. “You WON’T GET- Get-...” He quickly scrambled to his feet at the sight of- Well- Nothing. Without another thought he turned on his heel and made his way sprinting in the opposite direction of that hell he narrowly escaped. Almost too easily. What the hell was that? He watched the ground as he ran, looking for any sign of disturbance, blood, or anything else. He ran without true direction, swerving between trees in attempt to simply go straight in the opposite direction of the wall.

“GUYS? DAVENPORT?” He called as he ran, following the winding paths of the trees. “God, how fucking far did we g-” His mumbling was cut off when he tripped over his feet and onto the ground, sliding in the dirt with a cough. He pushed himself to his knees, brushing moss and plants off of himself to raise to his feet again, but instead fell back forward. He tried to brush the plants off, but they were clinging to him, crawling over him to keep him to the ground. “Oh- Oh fuck- Fuck- FUCK! HELP!” His voice bellowed through the trees as he thrashed out of the hold of the plants, only for them to crawl onto him again, tighter. Words failed him, but a scream erupted from the pit of his stomach that ripped past his vocal chords into the air around him. He struggled with wheezes, sharp breathes, ripping plants off his clothes and kicking them off his shoes. Any organized thought of how to get out was tossed with impulsive pulling, snapping, and yanking. The plants cupped onto his skin and wouldn’t release, the same onto his clothes. His hands slipped and his head hit the grass, and his vision blanked. He quickly rubbed his hands over his face, plants releasing and his vision returning. Panic and adrenaline raged through his veins. What the fuck was that? He couldn’t manage- The plants were around one outstretched arm, his legs were bound, he couldn’t lift his chest, and his free hand trying to keep the plants away from his head was bound quickly to the ground by his elbow. His neck was forced to the ground, craned to his right. He watched as his hand was slowly being entwined with small green plants- The last image in his vision before faded again being a green, cupped plant growing into his forehead. Then, darkness.  

 

“Barry J. Bluejeans?”

Barry’s vision came back to him suddenly as his eyes shot open and he fixed his step, stumbling as if he’d fall over. He was back on his feet, but nowhere near a forest. He was standing in a group with maybe two dozen other humans, elves, dwarves, all the sort. They turned to face him with quiet laughs that echoed throughout the mahogany classroom, rich with color made seemingly to echo the small voices around Barry directly for his embarrassment. The wood climbed into an arched ceiling, lined with panes of stained glass that allowed light to pool into the large room, birds overhead casting the occasional shadow shooting across the room. Barry took in the surroundings quickly- He must have dozed off, he’d barely gotten any sleep last night from nerves. Would enough studying even prepare him? It wasn’t an impossible task, but having had his ass handed to him before- It was an innate need to impress, if nothing else.

“Mr. Bluejeans?” The dry voice of a small, fair skinned, elder Elven man called out from behind a far desk again, echoing throughout the architecture of the polished classroom. Between the students and the Elven man was a slightly raised level of floor lead by stairs that had a white, diamond shaped image printed onto the ground. A hushed laugh made its way around the room again, he nearly elbowed another elf on his way up that was laughing back at him, he knew for a  _ fact _ his name was more ridiculous than his own. Nevertheless, Barry, younger than ever, stepped forward. 

“Christ, don’t say it again.” He mumbled to himself as he gave a slight wave to the teacher and adjusted his glasses. “Present.” 

The Elven man looked him up and down and adjusted the papers on his desk accordingly with a small grin. “Are you properly prepared this time, Mr. Jeans?” 

“Yes.” Barry blurted as if to beat the snickers around the room, his face slightly red.

“Please, step into the diamond.”

Barry took a deep breath and clutched his wand tight in his hand as he stepped forward. The rest of the class took a collective step backward as a string of blue light traced around the floor in the shape of the diamond, then lifted two feet in the air.

“You understand the rules of this test, correct?”

“Yes, sir.” Barry nodded, rolling back his shoulders and looking anxiously up toward the man, who returned him a wide smile.

“Right,” He stood from his desk, revealing his striking height. He raised his arm over his head and waved his wand in a quick circular motion. Suddenly, in the diamond with Barry, a wooden mannequin began to materialize. Limb by limb in a display of colors the wood spiralled into existence and connected by invisible joints. The head was the last to appear, and it spun on dizzily before the body snapped into a formidable pose, X’s carved into the face for eyes staring pointedly at Barry, unmoving. “Go!” The man shouted again, snapping his fingers and bringing life to the body. Barry spun his arm to cast a barely visible stream from his want that exploded against the mannequin body, smiling broadly as it stumbled backward, but not into the string of light.

“Barry?”

Barry blinked at the unfamiliar voice, turning around suddenly in attempt to find the source, but with no result. “Wh- Huh?”

“BARRY!”

A blast of energy hurled him forward out of the diamond and stumbling down the few steps directly onto his face with a groan. He raised a hand to his forehead and hissed, a bout of humiliation falling over him. How did he fuck this up again? Was he so tired he was hearing voices?

“Barry J. Bluejeans?” The Elven man’s voice rang through once more, followed by more spouts of laughter.

“That wasn’t- That can’t count! Someone distracted me, sir- I-...” Was that a part of the test? He brought himself to his hands and knees with some trouble, rubbing his face.

“Mr. Bluejeans?” 

Barry sighed, bringing himself to his feet and brushing himself off. “Yes, I know, I- I-” He cut himself off. He was standing face to face with himself, who mumbled something offhandedly to himself, adjusted his glasses, raised his hand, and spoke.

“Present.” 

Barry let out a short shout and stumbled backward out of the way as he watched- Well, as he watched himself step forward. The conversation he was just a part of suddenly played in front of him as if it were a play that he had the honor of watching himself perform in. 

“Please, step into the diamond.” The voice rang through again, and he did. He watched as he stepped into the diamond, and as he readied himself.

“What the fuck is going on?” Barry turned to the students around him- It appeared that they couldn’t see him. Barry waved a hand in front of a human girl beside him with no response. “Hey, can you hear me?” He put a hand on her shoulder in attempt to shake her, but she was rock solid. His interference did less than nothing; it was as if he were a ghost. The voice rang his name past him again, but he could truly hear it this time- It wasn’t coming from the classroom, or from the world he was in. The shattering of his reality came from that raw voice, a voice he quickly recognized as Lup. That was impossible, she was right there, right in front of him in that classroom beside that snarky jackass of a brother. But they didn’t look right, not even close to right. Their hair was a dark brown, Lup’s was short and Taako was… Way too quiet for his personality. Something was very, very wrong. He looked down to his hands, which were covered in dirt and scrapes. 

“GO!” The voice of his professor rang through again, and his attention was pulled back to the diamond he had just been thrown out of. 

“Wait- Wait, I remember this.” Barry stood and watched himself battle the mannequin. The shot of light pierced the wooden body and exploded as it had before, but he wasn’t distracted this time. “This- This was the first duel I won.” He stepped onto the steps and watched intently. The wooden figure came close to the young Barry, but he was too quick. He fired a series of fiery blows toward it, catching its arm on fire that quickly put itself out. It stepped toward him and swiped a foot out from under him, leading Barry to roll out of the trip and land on a sturdy knee. He grabbed the floating leg of the body and brought it to the ground, pinning it down with his knees by its arms and aimed his wand down at the figure. He nearly casted his spell, but the head moved freely forward into his wrist and knocked the wand onto the floor away from him. It then brought up its own knee into Barry’s back, hard. He buckled forward off of the mannequin with a gasp from the crowd, followed by a hiss from Barry outside the ring. He remembered that, it cracked his spine from his hips to his shoulders. By the time Barry brought himself back to his feet, the mannequin had his wand in his hand, aimed down at him. In a fit of panic, Barry raised his unarmed hand and sputtered an incantation. Multiple rays of flame erupted from his hand and punctured through the wooden body of the mannequin. Barry backed slightly as it burned, incapable of putting the flames out and crumpling to the ground with the crackled sounds of burning wood. He grinned in pride, then let out a panicked shout as his wand burned in the fire as well. Barry, from the sidelines smiled at this interaction while applause broke out through the room. However, his name ripped through his head again. 

“LUP!” He called back, his hands cupping over his mouth suddenly after. It felt as if he said it from a separate body. “Fuck, am I dreaming?” He pinched the bridge of his nose with a groan and turned back to the crowd, dumbfounded by the newly empty room around him. “Wh- T- Taako? Professor?” His eyes darted around the room to the only figure besides himself left- His teacher, spun facing away from him, still as a photograph. He felt his stomach churn, but a fire built in his chest as he broke out into a run across the room toward him. “Sir!” He called out, moving behind his desk to face him. The image he was presented with was not one he was prepared for. His face was plasticine, hair synthetic, eyes painted onto the bastardized, doll-like face along with the rest of the features. It fell at his touch lifelessly to the ground. He felt sick. “Where the fuck am I?” 

“BARRY, WAKE UP!”

 

Barry’s eyes shot open with a gasp. He was no longer on his stomach, but instead lying on his back, looking down at Lup who was cutting frantically at plants winding themselves around Barry’s torso.

“Cut faster, Lup!” Magnus’ voice erupted from behind him as he threw a torn, cupped plant to the ground. Barry furrowed his brow slightly at the situation, not quite grasping it just yet. The throbbing in his forehead had maintained it’s steady pain if not worsened, newly paired with intense vertigo. He watched as plants made their ways around Magnus and Lup to get to him with a sense of curiosity. Were they not good enough? A long vine appeared in the corner of his vision, and he snapped back to reality. He began to twist in Magnus’ grasp, kicking plants off his feet with a shout.

“FUCK!”

“He’s up, He’s back! We gotta go!” Magnus shouted, yanking him upward by his stomach out of the grasp of the broken plants. Barry could barely hold himself on his feet, every step drawing the attention of more plants. Magnus pulled him onto his back and broke into a sprint, Lup close behind.

“God, I thought you were dead, Barry.” She sputtered through panting breaths in her sprint. Barry set his head against Magnus’ shoulder stiffly as he ran- He felt as if he’d throw up at any second, holding it in was more important than any conversation he could muster at the moment.

“Say something, bud, how you holding up?” Magnus called as he ran, the opening of the forest slowly but surely coming into view. He got a disgusted groan rattled against his back, and considered that good enough for the moment. The three bursted out of the forest and kept running, the further from the edge, the better. 

Lucretia stood at the sight of them with a loud shout, stumbling off the steps of the starblaster after them. “Barry! Get him inside, come on.” She lead the three inside of the ship to the seats by the open port, closing it behind them. Magnus set him carefully down, making a face at the bruise on his forehead and how tight his expression was.

“What happened?”

“Bucket.” Barry hissed through his teeth.

“You- What?” Lucretia asked, setting a hand over his shoulder. Lup, however, already had a bucket to hand to him in the nick of time for him to empty his stomach. The three turned their heads at the sight, Lucretia keeping her hand on his shoulder to offer some level of comfort. It took him a few tries, but he managed to speak,

“Ev- Everything is spinning.” He mumbled, putting a trembling hand onto his forehead. “Wh- Where’s D- Wh...h…” He couldn’t finish the thought, dry heaving into the bucket again instead. 

“Everyone is-... Here. Don’t worry, we all made it back. We’re just worried about you right now, bear.” Lup kneeled beside him, putting a hand on his arm. “What happened?”

Barry, ever so slowly shook his head, “I c-hh…” He heaved again, hanging his head with a pitiful cough. Magnus rubbed the back of his neck at the sight and looked between Lup and Lucretia, all three sharing a similar expression of worry and fear.

“Christ, what’d you do to him?” They all turned their attention, including Barry, to Taako in the corner of the room. He looked gaunt in his face with the stand for his I.V. bag in his un-slung arm, holding to it tight. 

“Taako I  _ explicitly  _ told you to just fucking stay in bed. It’s so easy to just not get out of bed.” Lup groaned. Her annoyance in her face suddenly turned to fear with a short breath. “Taako, get back to the med bay.”

“Do you honestly expect me to lay in that bed the  _ whole  _ time we’re here? No! Barry looks like shit, the tiny bitches in the med bay look like shit, and no one’s explained shit to me! I’m not just-”

“Taako, the med bay. Please.” Lup urged again.

“Oh my GODS, sis.” He rolled his eyes, stumbling back but catching himself. “You aren’t-” His eyes fixed into the opposite corner of the room. He stared first with confusion, then turned to fear, then anger. Magnus turned as well, suddenly standing straight with a clenched jaw. Lucretia and Lup exchanged dreaded glances as everyone’s attention was pulled from Barry, to Thomas, who was huddled in the corner wrapped in a red cape and tears filling his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the hit care bear keep on trekking. can i offer you som pepto mayb , to be fair 2 taako they literally opened the door of the med bay and threw both merle and davenport football style into the room before running back out so he really doesnt know what the fuck is going on . yes those three sentences of magnus being taller than lup is why i changed his height maddie. dont @ me


End file.
